The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola has decried the rising attacks on the personnel of the federal fire service.
According to him, the attacks had it difficult for them to carry out their responsibilities when called upon.
He urged Nigerians to protect firefighters and their equipment from physical attacks during their missions of responding to emergencies and disasters.
This was contained in a statement by his media adviser to the Minister, Sola Fasure.
“We are making arrangements to accompany every mission with armed personnel. They will be empowered to take all necessary actions to protect our personnel and assets from any form of attack,” the 64-year-old said.
The minister had announced in July that he was going to forward an executive bill to the National Assembly to allow firefighters to carry firearms.
But lawmakers shot down the suggestion, expressing caution that it would add to the growing concerns of Nigerians who are already terrorized by the reckless use of firearms by security agents.