Nigeria’s national emergency number, 112, failed to connect during a live television test on Tuesday, contradicting claims by an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain that the service was fully operational. The incident occurred during an appearance by Alwan Hassan, a member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, on Channels Television’s *Politics Today*, anchored by Seun Okinbaloye.
Hassan had cited the emergency line as a key achievement of the administration led by President Bola Tinubu and challenged the presenter to dial the number on air to demonstrate its functionality. “Take your phone and call 112. Nobody knows about this. We used to hear it in America, 911. Call 112 now, put it on the speaker, and they’ll ask you what’s your emergency… Thanks to APC government,” Hassan stated.
However, when Okinbaloye attempted to dial the number, the call failed to connect. “This number is not working,” the presenter noted. Hassan attributed the failure to a possible network issue, insisting that the line was operational and that he had successfully used it several times in the past. Okinbaloye countered that other calls were connecting from the same location and that viewers were sending messages confirming they could also not reach the emergency number.
Hassan explained that calls to 112 are intended to be received at emergency communication centres in the callers’ respective locations, where operators would assess the nature of the distress and contact relevant agencies, such as ambulance services for medical emergencies or the nearest police station for security incidents. He further disclosed that the government is developing a system to identify callers’ locations via a dashboard, eliminating the need for callers to provide their addresses during emergencies.
While the emergency centre in Abuja is reportedly ready, Hassan stated that President Tinubu directed that it should not be launched until centres across the country were properly aligned. He indicated that this nationwide alignment is expected to be completed by March 2027. When Okinbaloye suggested that the emergency number was among the administration’s unfulfilled promises, Hassan appealed for patience, stating, “We’ll fulfil them. We’ll fulfil them with time. This is why we’re asking for more time.”
The Federal Government directed relevant agencies, including the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigeria Police Force, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), to develop an operational roadmap for the nationwide rollout of the 112 emergency number in September. This directive followed the National Economic Council’s approval of 112 as Nigeria’s single universal toll-free emergency number, designed to provide access to assistance during medical, security, fire, and other emergencies.
<small>Source: Vanguard News — read the original story there.</small>
