President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is billed to perform the groundbreaking of several projects at the National Fire Academy, Sheda in Abuja, the training arm of the Federal Fire Service (FFS) on 28 May.
This was disclosed yesterday by the minister of interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in Abuja, after inspecting some ongoing expansion projects at the Fire Service Academy.
The minister reeled out some of the projects that would be flagged off by the president to include a clinic, worship centres, props centre, sports arena, lecture halls, hostels and others.
Tunji-ojo added that the event, which is part of activities to mark President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s first anniversary, aims to expand the academy into a world-class facility that would see it retain foreign exchange by way of cutting down on foreign training while also providing training to personnel of other countries.
He said, “Fire Service is not even just about fire but about rescue too, being first responders in cases of emergencies and we believe that the potentials for the sector are really massive and they have rarely been tapped.
“So, the next one year, we are poised towards making sure that we bring your best out of the profession. We want to create an academy where we won’t just be able to meet our local training demands but to also export training and make this a facility of pride to Nigeria as a country.
He said a lot of affiliations and collaborations with local and international agencies have already been worked out and in a few months, “We will be here so that you can come and see what we are doing”.
The minister also disclosed that the federal government has recaptured some of the inmates who escaped from the Suleja Custodial Centre following the collapse of its perimeter fence during a downpour
He thanked sister agencies for their support to the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) while also disclosing that they were still closing in on a few others who are still on the run.
He said; “The Suleja facility where the walls came down, most people didn’t understand that we had already started rebuilding the walls but because it is a correctional centre, we couldn’t bring down all the walls at the same time for rehabilitation. We need to do that in segments.
“We are building a 125-bed Custodial Centre beside the current centre in Suleja to be able to solve the problem of overcrowding. We are putting in everything to make sure that our correctional centres are safe and foolproof to attacks, while we are also taking care of the welfare of the inmates”.
On fleeing Suleja inmates, he said; “yes, we have recaptured a lot of people and work is actually going on. We are working with other sister agencies but the details of that, I won’t be able to disclose in public so as to avoid jeopardizing the hard work of the agencies. We want to reemphasize that it is no longer business as usual but business unusual”.
The minister, who was impressed with the improved facilities at the Kuje centre, said the development would be replicated across other custodial centres in the country.
He said, at present, nine custodial centres are receiving massive facelifts, with standard perimeter fence and expansion of certain corridors.
