The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), has strongly condemned the increasing use of ambulances to transport corpses within Abuja, describing the practice as both ‘unethical and unacceptable’.
The Secretary of the Health Services and Environment Secretariat, Dr Adedolapo Fasawe made this known while addressing journalists on Friday after the fifth meeting of the FCT Executive Committee, which was presided over by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
According to Fasawe, the administration has approved the purchase of 12 brand-new, fully equipped ambulances and plans to procure special hearses designated exclusively for the conveyance of dead bodies, in order to prevent the misuse of emergency medical vehicles.
‘In the FCT, we have zero tolerance for an ambulance to carry a corpse. It is not ethical because a living person will lie on that stretcher without decontamination. So, we are also looking into buying hearses in the next budget, specifically to carry dead bodies’, she said.
Fasawe added that the newly acquired ambulances — 12 units of the Toyota Hiace Hiroof (2023/2024 models) — are ‘specially fitted to international standards’, and will soon be deployed across the territory.
‘For the first time in about nine years, FCT will get 12 brand-new special ambulances. These are state-of-the-art vehicles, each equipped with a Bluetooth system, airbags, keyless entry and advanced medical fittings. They have been delivered and will be commissioned soon’, she stated.
She emphasised that the new ambulances would significantly enhance the FCT’s emergency response system, especially with the recent improvement of road networks that now allow quicker access to outlying areas.
‘A journey that used to take 20 minutes now takes five. With these ambulances, it may take just three minutes to reach a patient in need. This is another example of how the FCT system is working under the current administration’, she added.
The Health Secretary also reminded residents that the national emergency number, 112, is active and can be used to request medical assistance in Abuja.
‘We are in direct communication with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The 112 number works right now.
‘Once we complete our ambulance command base, calls to 112 will be patched directly to the nearest available ambulance, whether from FEMA, NEMSAS, or the FCT Health Services’, she explained.
