The Federal Fire Service has trained 500 personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) in Cross River on fire prevention, safety and disaster management.
The personnel were trained during a one-week theoretical and practical training took place at the NSCDC headquarters in Calabar.
The Commandant of the NSCDC in the state, Mr Samuel Fadeyi, said on Tuesday in Calabar that it was important to organise the training on safety and drills for the personnel of the corps.
According to Fadeyi, the mandate of the NSCDC includes disaster prevention, control and management, hence the need for its sustained partnership with the federal fire service.
“In view of the importance of safety, we had to call in the Federal Fire Service to give our people the insight on how to be saved and how to curb fire disasters.
“So, these are just the basics for them to know when they are to act as first respondents and when they have to assist the fire men that are on the scene.
“At the end of the training, the officers should know that they are the first respondents to every disaster.
“We incorporated our new intakes into the training so that they will know these things right from the beginning,” he said.
He advised personnel of the command to always have the courage and zeal when going into disaster scenes as first respondents.