The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Danbatta has given reasons why the Commission decided to establish 18 Emergency Communications Centers in 17 States of the country.
Danbatta, while speaking at the launch of the Emergency Communications Centers, 112 Toll-free Number and other projects and programme of the government in Abuja recently, disclosed that NCC facilitated the establishment of 18 ECCs in 17 states of the Federation and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in line with the Commission’s mandate under section 107 of Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003.
“This is to promote and enhance public safety through the use of a particular number designed as the universal safety and emergency assistance number for telephone services generally; and to encourage and facilitate the prompt deployment throughout Nigeria of seamless, ubiquitous and reliable end-to-end infrastructure for emergency communication needs,” the EVC said.
The recognition of the significant role of NCC’s ECC in enhancing security resulted in the awards received by the Commission and its CEO in 2019. Consequently, the NCC has also been inducted into the Forum of Spokesperson of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA), as an eloquent testimony to its commitment to leveraging new technologies to address the nation’s numerous security concerns.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has activated and implemented the Emergency Communications Centre (ECC) project in 17 states, including the Abuja as at last year.
These states include Benue, Kwara, Plateau, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Imo, Anambra, Enugu and Adamawa.
The Emergency Communications Centre will help Nigerians to get access from any Response Agency such as the Police, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Fire and Ambulance Services
All that is required of any Nigerian is to dial a toll-free number 112 from any network and get attention.