The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Thursday, organised a training for Grassroots Emergency Volunteer Corps (GEVC) to mitigate disasters in Kaduna State.



Mohammed Suliman, North-West Zonal Coordinator of the agency, made this known on Thursday at a training programme for volunteers for emergency responses and evacuation procedures.



Suliman was represented at the event by Halima Sulaiman, Chief Information Officer of the agency.



He said the training would equip the volunteers with the skills to respond and prevent emergencies at the grassroots level.



He said the training, which attracted disaster management experts from NEMA, Red Cross and fire service, would also provide the requisite knowledge to render First Aid.



Suliman said that since disasters occur in communities, the volunteers would serve as first responders to victims.



He said they would equally as a link to the communities and disaster management agencies, hence the training.



“The statutory agencies alone cannot get to the nook and crannies of the country, which is why we chose the disaster risk reduction strategy.



“We believe community members should be able to manage disasters before the arrival of statutory emergency agencies.



“So, it is your role as volunteers to assist your community and work with us to mitigate disasters and save lives,” Suliman said.



The Senior Fire Superintendent, Kaduna Fire Service, Moses Ishaya, said the volunteers would be trained on basic fire evacuation drills to save lives in case of fire outbreaks.



He commended the volunteers for accepting to contribute their quota in saving lives of members of the community.



He described volunteerism as an integral part of disaster management as disaster, he said, affects all and should be everybody’s business.



“It is my belief that the training will inform and prepare volunteers about disaster prevention, mitigation and response to ensure a disaster resilient society, ” Ishaya said.



One of the participants, Aminu Mohammed, thanked NEMA for organising the training.



He assured the agency that the volunteers would do their best as first emergency responders.



The participants were trained on basic first aid training, defensive driving and safety compliance as well as fire prevention and response.