According to reports Lagos State has witnessed a notable surge in the occurrence of incidents. From June 1, 2019, to December 31, 2023, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said it responded to 6,442 incidents, acting upon its mandate of rescuing, recovering, and mitigating disaster risks within the state. The State reported a total of 1,461 occurrences of emergency incidents throughout the year 2023. In December alone, there were 138 incidents that were attended to, out of which 58 were attributed to the Truck/Tanker category. These included 39 truck/tanker accidents, 12 breakdowns, two incidents involving fallen tankers/trucks, and two cases where tankers became stuck.
There were a total of 29 vehicle collisions in the Road Accident category, while the Medical category had 8 miscellaneous cases and the Fire Disaster category had 11 cases, which included 7 Fire Outbreaks, 1 Tanker/Truck incident, and 3 vehicular fires. Other events category recorded a total of 19 incidents consisting of 2 bridge repairs, 1 Assault case, and a variety of other cases. As the statistics indicate, there were a total of 9 instances within the Building Collapse classification. These consisted of 2 complete Building Collapses, 5 instances of partial Collapses, and 2 instances of Collapsed Bridges. On a separate note, there was 1 recorded incident within the Oil Spillages/Leakages category.
Alimosho LGA accounted for 25 cases in December 2023.
In December, 2023, the absence of Explosions, Marine incidents, Train or Air Crashes deserves recognition. Delving into the analysis of incidents recorded per Local Government Area (LGA) during this period, Alimosho LGA emerged as the most densely populated region with the largest landmass, yet unfortunately also experienced the highest number of incidents. Out of the December incidents recorded (138), Alimosho LGA accounted for 25 cases. Kosofe LG had a total of 22 incidents, closely followed by Ikeja with 15. Mushin and Lagos Island both recorded 11 incidents each, while Apapa, Oshodi-Isolo, and Eti-Osa LGAs all documented 10 incidents each. While Ikorodu and Lagos Mainland recorded 5 incidents each, and Shomolu had 4.
Additionally, Amuwo-Odofin witnessed 3 occurrences, while Surulere and Epe experienced a total of 2 incidents each. Agege, Ibeju-Lekki, and Ifako-Ijaiye LGAs documented 1 incident each. Ultimately, the findings show that out of the 138 incidents, the Truck/Tanker category reported the highest figure of 58 incidents, whereas the Oil Spillage/Leakages category had the lowest with only 1 incident. In analyzing the occurrences within each LGA, Alimosho LGA stood out with the largest count of incidents, reaching 25 in the month of December, 2023. Conversely, it is noteworthy that Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Ojo, and Badagry experienced an exceptional month, as they remained incident-free throughout the month under review.
October witnessed the highest number of cases in 2023.
Further analysis of the available data revealed that 638 out of the 1,461 incidents that occurred in Lagos State throughout the year 2023 were attributed to Truck/Tanker/Trailer Accidents, Broken Down and Fallen Trucks/Tankers. Statistics show that the second highest number of incidents, totaling 418, were attributed to Road Accidents/Crashes which involved Vehicles and Fallen Containers. The Medical Category, encompassing Suicides, Attempted Suicides, and Dead Bodies, earned the third spot with a total of 141 incidents recorded throughout the year. Conversely, the Marine, Train, and Air Crash Categories saw the least number of incidents, each tallying only 3 occurrences.
Emergency Trends data in Local Governments from the previous year found that Alimosho Local Government had the highest tally of incidents, reaching a staggering 242 cases. Comparatively, Ikeja Local Government ranked second, with a total of 191 incidents. Kosofe Local Government ranked third with 158 cases. Ojo LG reported 13 cases, while Badagry LGA did not record any incidents at all. The Monthly Emergency Trends shows that October witnessed the highest number of cases in 2023, amounting to 145. December held the second position with 138 cases, while January secured the third spot with a count of 129 cases.
2021 has the highest number of cases in the last five years.
The month of May had the fewest incidents recorded, with a mere 106 cases, closely followed by April which had 111 cases, and November which had 112 cases. Analyzing the data from the last five years (1st of June, 2019 to the 31st of December, 2023) which had in record a total of 6,442 incidents handled by the Agency, the year 2021 recorded the highest number of cases, with a staggering 1,743 incidents. However, there was a slight decline in 2022, as the number of recorded cases dropped to 1,682. This downward trend persisted into 2023, with data showing 1,461 incidents handled by the Agency.