The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has urged the media to avoid false alarm and exhibit caution in reporting incidents of disaster in the country in order not to instigate the public against the rescue organisations and jeopardise their security.
The head of the NEMA Abuja Operations Office, Justin Uwazuruonye, gave the advice in Abuja during an interactive session with members of the media, following the alleged exaggerated reports and false alarms raised by a section of the media during last Monday’s building collapse in Abuja.
He noted that the media should work in synergy with rescue organisations and be guided by the ways to report such incidents as well as understand the nature of the work of the emergency responders and rescue officers in disaster management.
He said; “This is because on Monday, there was a building collapse but the way the media was trying to source for information was not professional and that was what prompted this meeting. We are saying that the media should exhibit caution in the reporting of disasters, the media must try to confirm the occurrence of incidents before going public.
“We are saying that in the last building collapse, some media reported that one person had died and others reported that 50 persons were trapped. But there were not more than 9 people that were trapped.
“Sometimes the media resorts to raising false alarms about disaster. So, we are saying that confirmation is very important. The media should stop escalating false alarms or fake news. What we are saying is that the information the media dishes out to the public should make the people to help us do this work. Do not pitch us against the people. We get information and verify before we go out for rescue operations. We also consider our own security before we embark on a rescue mission.”
