NCC plans more Emergency Communication Centres

The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), announced on Wednesday that it was earnestly planning to activate Emergency Communication Centres.

ECC would be activated in states where the facilities were currently not in existence.

It also said that the commission had been receiving calls from the state governments to set up the centres in their states. This would be in recognition of the importance of the facilities.

The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta disclosed this when he was presented with two international recognitions. The commission got the recognitions from the International Public Relations Association and the African Public Relations Association.

Danbatta stated that 19 ECC had been set up in 18 states of the federation and Abuja. These centres performed important role during crisis as they eased responses from emergency response agencies whenever 112 was dialed from any network.

The response agencies were outlined by him. These comprise the Nigerian Police Force, the Federal Road Safety Commission, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, fire and ambulance services and the National Emergency Management Agency.

The NCC chairman was quoted in a statement delivered in Abuja by the commission’s representative, Ikechukwu Adinde, as saying, “Because of the recognition of the important role the ECC is playing in states where we have activated them, many states are asking us to come and activate their ECCs.

“And serious work is ongoing in this regard, as we know that this important life-saving facility supports security architecture across the country.”

Danbatta stated that ECCs were activated to receive distress calls from the public, dispatch the call to appropriate emergency response agencies for them to respond and resolve the matter in time.

“The ECC has transformed lives and helped many in handling emergencies today. It is no doubt having positive impacts on lives, improving security and providing jobs for Nigerian youths,” he said.

Danbatta said the international awards in recognition to NCC were used to acknowledge the important role ECC played, in giving aid to Nigerians who were in crises.