Lagos Assembly proposes two-year jail term for assault on fire service personnel

The Lagos House of Assembly has recommended two years’ imprisonment for any person obstructing fire fighting or assaulting firefighters in the state.

The House made the recommendation in its proposed state fire service bill.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Special Duties, Mr. Raheem Kazeem, disclosed this at a one-day public hearing on the bill on Friday.

He said the bill proposes that any person or group of people obstructing, assaulting or resisting fire service personnel from carrying out their duties shall be fined N500,000 or sentenced to a jail term of two years or both.

The lawmaker added that a fine of N5 million was proposed for a corporate body for similar offence.

He said: “Failure to yield the right of way to engines or other mobile fire-fighting equipment as required by the law is an offence and, on conviction, the accused shall be liable to a fine not exceeding N100,000 or a prison term not exceeding six months or both.”

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The lawmaker noted that the bill also provided for prohibition and control of the use of materials classified as a fire hazard in the erection, alteration, improvement or repair of any building or other structures in the state.

Kazeem stressed that the bill also provided for risk assessment and fire investigation in public and private places in Lagos.

The bill, according to him, is aimed at preventing fire or fire-related emergencies within the state.

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