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The Controller of the Niger State Fire Service, Baba Alhaji Alikali, has disclosed that about 60 to 70 percent of most domestic fire outbreaks were caused by carelessness.
Speaking in an interview with Newsline Newspapers in his office, the controller, who said fire is a friend but to others, an enemy, explained that fire is one of the best things "we cannot do without because we use it to cook, boil, fabricate, melt, clean, and clear the environment, but it all depends on how you control it.".
He said that as the harmattan season has sprung up, he has advised the general public to be careful in terms of fire activities, urging that safety measures should always be paramount to avoid losing lives and properties.
Baba Alkali warned those in the habit of using fireworks to make use of excessive water to quench it after usage, adding that if not properly quenched, the heat that remained in it can be rekindled when the breeze continues to blow it.
The controller further stated that those who had bushes around their houses should clear them to about 50 feet, stressing that the same method should be applied to those that have plots and uncompleted structures that were not properly kept to equally clear the bushes.
"If you happen to be a neighbour of an abandoned land, please call the owner's attention to come and put the place in order.
"To set a fire, make sure you can contain it, but if you feel you cannot contain it, call on the Niger State Fire Service or the Federal Fire Service to come closer so that by the time you light a fire, they will be on standby in case of any emergency," he said.
He also enjoined the public to desist from keeping petroleum products at home and should not allow children to go very close to matches.
"My advice also goes to women, because they use fire more often, that they should please be sensitive and attentive to everything they do whenever they are going out. They should not forget to turn off electrical and fire appliances like gas, stoves, electric cookers, and heaters before leaving the house.
"The general public should also help us by suspending their house service wires very high because we usually have challenges of free movement when we are on line of duty, which is affecting our tanks to access the victim's houses easily.
"Also, please do not wait for the fire to go viral before you call fire service attention; a stitch in time saves nine," he warned.
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A statement from Niger State Government House, Minna, says the directive by Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago on the dress code for civil servants was quoted out of context and wrongly presented to the public.
The governor, in a statement made available to newsmen by his Chief Press Secretary, Mal. Bologi Ibrahim, said the video going around on social media platforms did not capture the governor's statement in its original context.
The statement quoted the governor as saying, "I believed that, as a state, we have no reason to be poor because of the enormous agricultural potentials of the state and that my government was already investing heavily in the agricultural revolution, hence the need for all to collectively embrace farming, including the civil servants.
"My statement was only encouraging civil servants to be farmers, and to be a good farmer, you will need to dress smartly to farm.".
Mr. Bologi emphasised that the governor's admonition did not in any way imply that civil servants now have a dress code for office from Monday to Thursday, as erroneously captured in the video making the rounds.
He said, "The governor did not announce or mandate any dress code for the civil servants; rather, he meant every professional should be dressed based on the demands of his or her job.
"The viral video was curiously and mischievously edited to malign the governor, stressing that the general public must disregard the clip because the full video clearly defines what he meant," he added.
He advised social media influencers to be mindful and sure of the contents and context of the information they circulate on social media to avoid misrepresentations of facts.
In a video clip currently trending on social media, the governor was presented as banning civil servants, both male and female, from wearing kaftans, babanrigas, and flowing gowns to work from Monday to Thursday.
Handing down the directive on Saturday during the presentation of land development and preparation equipment at the Brains and Hammers Rice City, Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi Farm, Chakwa Community in Wushishi Local Government Area of the State, the governor was purported to have said civil servants must dress like workers who work to create wealth and not noblemen.
