Lagos court jails teenager for fake fire alarm

The Magistrates court sitting in Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos State, has sentenced a teenager, Solomon Uzuokwu, to one-month imprisonment for making hoax calls to emergency responders.

Uzuokwu was convicted of the two counts charge of bridging the public peace and making a hoax fire emergency call.

Magistrate Bambo Odueke gave the ruling with an option of a fine and a month of community service campaign against false calls within the jurisdiction of the State.

The defendant, however, opted for the fine after he pleaded guilty to the charge.

The Director, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Mrs Margaret Adeseye, in a statement signed by the Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Agboola Ololade, on Friday said the ruling followed the court’s acknowledgement of the noble firefighting profession and the effective service delivery of the agency that required the encouragement of all and sundry.

She also expressed delight in the swift prosecution of the case to serve as a deterrent to other misguided citizens who are in the habit of making false calls and misleading emergency responders.

“Adeseye used the occasion to note the seeming reduction in false calls since the advent of the case and pledged to work with the culprit in using his community service as another medium to reach a large audience among other efforts being championed by the Agency,” the statement added.

PUNCH reports that Uzuokwu placed a call on Friday, April 14, 2023, at 735pm to Harmony Estate, Langbasa, Ajah, Lagos and reported a Fire emergency within the estate leading to the dispatch of the Lekki Phase II Fire Service Station.

On arrival of the fire crew at the estate, every effort to trace the acclaimed fire outbreak proved abortive.

He, however, first appeared in court penultimate on April 19 which was adjourned till today for the conclusion of the matter in record time to ensure that justice is not denied.