In the early 2000s, Lagos stood tall among Nigeria’s 36 states, pioneering one of the country’s most functional public ambulance networks. With sirens slicing through traffic and mobile intensive care units strategically stationed across the city, Lagosians could once count on help arriving within minutes during medical emergencies. But more than two decades later, that system is in near collapse. Lives are being lost on the road, not because help didn’t exist, but because help never came. In this story, GODFREY GEORGE goes beneath the surface of a failing infrastructure to ask: What happened to the once-lauded emergency medical response?
On a quiet afternoon along Kingsway Road, Alfred Rewane, Ikoyi, three young women were involved in a devastating car crash.
The impact left two of them unconscious and bleeding from severe head injuries. It was the kind of emergency Lagos once knew how to respond to. But on this day, help never came.
Dr Agboola Kotun, who witnessed the accident, sprang into action.
With a paramedic by his side, first aid was administered on the spot, doing everything within their power to stabilise the victims while placing repeated calls to the Lagos State Ambulance Services.
The emergency was clear. The request was urgent. But the wait was long, an hour and a half passed, and still, no ambulance arrived.
Eventually, Kotun was forced to use his private vehicle to rush the victims to the General Hospital, Lagos.
By the time they arrived at the hospital, one of the victims’ husbands, a newly relocated, American-trained urologist, had driven from Arepo in faraway Ogun State to meet them at the facility.
He made it in under 30 minutes. The Lagos State Ambulance Service, however, never did.
Kotun’s frustration is not unfounded. He remembers a time, not too long ago, when emergency response in Lagos worked.
“Former Governor Fashola initiated an excellent ambulance service by ensuring buses were stationed at strategic places on our highways,” he said.
“Governor Ambode improved on it and made emergency services more proactive. In fact, this was the aspect Lagosians scored his government almost 100 per cent.”
The contrast with the present, under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration, is stark.
“Unfortunately, Governor Sanwo-Olu not only failed to maintain what he met, but he also took emergency responses in the state 10 years backwards. Very sad!”
The story of these young women, now fighting for their lives, is also the story of a system that once gave Lagosians hope and security during emergencies, but now seems to leave them fending for themselves.
The facts are clear. The ambulance never came. The citizens stepped in. The state failed.
He rode into the night but never came back
On the night of Tuesday, March 4, 2025, the lights of Lagos cast long, golden shadows across Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue, a road that never sleeps, pulsing with the rhythm of the city’s unending movement.
Just past 10 pm, 33-year-old Adetunji Opaleye, also known as Teejay to friends and colleagues, was on his way home.
He had just wrapped up an evening workout at iFitness Gym in Victoria Island, a routine he rarely missed.
Mounted on his power bike, his helmet buckled, his thoughts perhaps already drifting to the tasks of tomorrow, Teejay joined the stream of traffic that glides across that corridor each night.
Lagos, a city he knew intimately, was winding down. He didn’t know he had less than 15 minutes to live.
Teejay was part of a growing tribe: the bright, inventive, tech-savvy generation reshaping Nigeria’s digital landscape.
A lawyer by degree but an engineer by passion, he co-founded BUMPA, a software platform that helped small and medium businesses manage sales, inventory, invoices and customer engagement, all from a smartphone.
In 2022, BUMPA secured $4 million in seed funding and has since facilitated over N160 billion in transactions for more than 60,000 SMEs.
Teejay, the company’s Chief Technical Officer, had helped build the engine.
Born and raised in Lagos, he attended Lagos State Model College, Meiran, and read Law at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in Osun State.
But long before graduation, it was clear that his real passion was technology.
He left Law behind, took up programming, and co-launched HostCabal, a web hosting firm, before building BUMPA with his friend and co-founder, Kelvin Umechukwu.
Teejay was not just brilliant; he was warm, funny, and deeply committed to his work and team.
On that night in March, the roads were unusually free. As Teejay approached the traffic light just after 1004 Estate, an SUV, speeding and unsignalled, cut across his path from the left.
The crash was loud enough to shake the street. Teejay was flung from his bike, landing with force on the tarmac. His helmet absorbed some impact, but not all. He was alive, barely.
A crowd quickly formed. Passers-by, area boys, a handful of concerned motorists. There was confusion and panic. Some hovered. Some shouted.
A sympathetic Uber driver stopped and offered his car. Others helped lift Teejay into the vehicle. Blood stained the seats. He groaned, in and out of consciousness.
They reached the first hospital. The response: “We cannot admit him.”
No reason. No triage. No stretcher. Just closed doors.
They tried another facility. Again, the same reply. Teejay was fighting to breathe.
His pulse weakened. Finally, the desperate crowd flagged down a rickety ‘korope’ minibus, those ubiquitous yellow-green contraptions common on the Lekki-Epe axis. They transferred him again.
It is not clear how many minutes passed between impact and final admission. What is clear is that in the crucial golden hour that determines survival, there was no public emergency service response.
No LASAMBUS. No trauma medic. No official help.
Any one of the people present could have dialled 767 or 112, the emergency numbers Lagos State loudly advertises. But no one did. Perhaps they didn’t know. Perhaps they didn’t believe they would get help even if they called.
It wasn’t always like this. Under previous administrations, LASAMBUS worked in tandem with LASEMA and was visibly present across the state, at major intersections, blackspots, and public facilities. Fitted with oxygen and life-saving equipment, their presence once meant hope.
But on this night, there was nothing.
Teejay’s brother eventually arrived at the accident scene and followed the makeshift convoy to the hospital. There, he was told: Teejay didn’t make it.
The news travelled fast. The tech community mourned him deeply. Tributes poured in from friends, co-workers, and partners. They remembered his warmth, his genius, his refusal to quit.
BUMPA announced they would honour him by naming their new AI assistant ‘Teejay’, to immortalise his passion for helping customers.
But beneath the heartbreak lies a familiar, damning truth: Lagos failed Teejay.
This is not just about one man. It’s about a system that has grown complacent, poorly maintained, and dangerously unreliable.
1,508 emergencies in 11 months
In the eleven months spanning January to November 2024, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency responded to a total of 1,508 emergency incidents across the state.
This data, recently released by the agency, provides insight into the volume and nature of emergencies managed, as well as the performance and reach of the agency under its current leadership.
LASEMA, led by Permanent Secretary Dr Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, is responsible for the coordination of emergency and disaster response in Lagos State. Since June 1, 2019, the agency has reportedly handled a cumulative total of 7,950 incidents, according to the new figures.
The latest month under review, November 2024, saw the agency attending to 141 emergency cases, the same number recorded in January.
February stood out with the highest number of cases for the year at 156, followed by March with 148.
From an annual perspective, LASEMA data shows that 2021 was the peak year in recent times for emergency responses, with a total of 1,743 incidents recorded. This figure declined slightly to 1,682 in 2022 and further to 1,461 in 2023.
With 1,508 incidents already recorded between January and November this year, 2024 appears to be on track to exceed last year’s total.
According to Oke-Osanyintolu, these figures reflect the state government’s ongoing investment in modernising and repositioning the agency from purely reactive emergency response to a broader strategy of disaster risk reduction.
He credited Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration with equipping LASEMA to meet present-day challenges in line with international best practices.
While the numbers suggest steady activity and improvements in some areas, the complexity and frequency of emergencies in Lagos State continue to test the capacity of first responders.
These statistics serve as both an audit of the agency’s work and a call to ensure that structural inefficiencies are addressed promptly, especially given recent public criticisms regarding delayed ambulance response times and inadequate coordination between emergency units.
‘LASAMBUS scheme 97.5% effective’
In a shocking contrast, despite multiple cases of near-deaths and deaths before the arrival of the ambulance services of the state government, LASAMBUS reported a 97.5 per cent emergency response rate between 2021 and 2025, claiming to have successfully attended to 44,152 of the 45,277 emergency calls received during the period.
This was revealed in June 2025 by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr Kemi Ogunyemi, in a statement signed by the Director of Public Affairs at the State Ministry of Health, Mr Tunbosun Ogunbanwo.
The disclosure followed a comprehensive review of LASAMBUS operations and performance metrics over the past four years.
According to Ogunyemi, LASAMBUS treated a total of 36,919 patients during the review window, including 11,200 patients in 2023 alone, a figure that underscores the team’s consistent responsiveness, even in times of peak demand.
She also noted that the service successfully carried out 931 field assignments between 2021 and 2025, with 350 of those missions completed in 2024.
These figures, she explained, are a direct result of increased public health awareness campaigns and enhanced operational readiness through regular drills.
She said the results of LASAMBUS’s improved operations are most evident in the outcomes. Ogunyemi revealed that the service recorded zero in-transit deaths in both 2022 and 2025, a major milestone credited to the agency’s robust triage systems, prompt patient stabilisation, and the professionalism of its paramedics.
Even more telling is the 100 per cent survival rate of patients transported in 2025, a dramatic improvement from the 60 per cent survival rate recorded in 2021.
“This is a reflection of improved pre-hospital care in Lagos State,” she said.
However, despite these successes, LASAMBUS continues to grapple with several persistent challenges.
Ogunyemi raised concerns about the increasing incidence of impersonation, vandalism of assets, and assaults on emergency personnel.
She also lamented the lack of public cooperation, especially when ambulances face obstructions in Lagos’s often congested traffic.
“Every second counts in an emergency. Obstructions can cost lives,” she warned, appealing to residents to always give ambulances the right of way.
To guard against fraud, she cautioned the public to be vigilant and avoid individuals posing as LASAMBUS staff.
Authentic ambulance services, she reminded, can be reached through the state’s emergency lines: 767 and 112.
Ogunyemi described the growing trend of attacks on ambulances and paramedics as both criminal and life-threatening.
“It endangers not only the personnel but the patients who are relying on immediate care,” she said.
In response to these challenges, the Lagos State Government is considering a proposal to upgrade LASAMBUS from a department within the health ministry to a full-fledged agency.
The proposal, currently under review by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is aimed at granting the service greater operational autonomy and enhancing inter-agency coordination.
Historical context
Providing historical context, Ogunyemi traced the origins of LASAMBUS to 2001, when it began with just 21 staff and four station wagons.
Today, she noted, the service has evolved into a robust emergency network comprising 36 mobile Intensive Care Units, three mobile clinics, and five patient transport ambulances.
These assets are currently stationed across four major bases and 26 ambulance points strategically located throughout Lagos to ensure speed and proximity in emergency response.
The human resource structure has also grown, she added.
LASAMBUS, according to her, now employs 196 personnel, including 64 nurses, 74 community health extension workers, and 70 trained ambulance pilots.
The team is supported by administrative and technical staff, forming a multidisciplinary emergency response unit.
All staff members are trained in Basic Life Support and First Aid, and 75 per cent hold certification in Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support, a critical qualification for handling high-risk emergencies.
Infrastructure upgrades have also been prioritised, she noted.
The government, according to the special adviser, has completed renovations at ambulance bases located in the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, General Hospital Lagos, General Hospital Ikorodu, and General Hospital Badagry. In addition, a new ambulance base is currently under construction at the Eti-Osa Mother and Child Centre.
“Simultaneously, five ambulance points, located at the Old Lagos-Ibadan Toll Gate, Eti-Osa, Anthony, Third Mainland Bridge, and Mile 12, are being upgraded as part of efforts to expand the state’s emergency care capacity.
“These ongoing projects are being funded through the Saving One Million Lives Programme for Results, a federal initiative designed to strengthen healthcare delivery across Nigeria,” she noted.
Dr Ogunyemi concluded by emphasising the need for continued public support to sustain and improve LASAMBUS operations.
“Our progress is tangible,” she said, “but saving lives requires the collective responsibility of government, healthcare workers, and the public.”
Despite these successes, there are still many deaths on Lagos roads, in homes and workplaces, with slow response from the emergency services.
Meanwhile, the question remains: where are these ambulances when they are needed the most?
For instance, tragedy struck on a Sunday morning in October 2024, when an unidentified ambulance driver lost his life after crashing into a truck near TREM Church, inward Gbagada, along the Oworonshoki Expressway in Lagos.
The fatal accident, which occurred around 1:30 a.m., involved an ambulance with registration number JBD-405HA and an articulated truck with unknown plates. The driver died before LASAMBUS arrived.
According to Oke-Osanyintolu, preliminary findings showed that the truck was struck from the side while in motion, forcing it into another lane.
The speeding ambulance then rammed into it, trapping the driver, who died at the scene.
Emergency responders cleared the wreckage to restore traffic. The body was handed over to the Ambulance Association for transport to the morgue, while police have taken custody of the vehicles for investigation.
Eight die in fatal Badagry road crash
Eight people, including the driver and conductor of a commercial bus, died in a fatal road crash involving a Mazda 16-seater bus (KJA 811 YF) and a DAF truck (T1 4636 LA) along the Badagry axis of Lagos. This happened in May of 2025.
According to LASTMA, the bus driver lost control while speeding, leading to a collision with the truck. The impact killed eight occupants on the spot and left several others injured.
LASAMBUS, according to several sources, arrived late to the scene. Had they arrived earlier, perhaps, some lives would have been saved.
LASTMA, in collaboration with the FRSC, Nigeria Police (Morogbo Division), and the Nigerian Army’s 244 Battalion, rescued eight surviving passengers and transported them to the General Hospital in Badagry for treatment.
There have been several more cases of lost lives due to delay or no-show of LASAMBUS.
What emergency response should be
In a recent study titled “Perspectives on the current state of Nigeria’s emergency care system among participants of an emergency medicine symposium: a qualitative appraisal”, by researchers Agnes Usoro, Benjamin Aiwonodagbon, Jonathan Strong, Sean Kivlehan, Babatunde Akodu, and Ayobami Olufadeji, sought to assess the Nigerian emergency care system through the lens of those who interact with it directly.
Published in BMJ Open, the study diverges from previous commentary by placing public perception, rather than professional or institutional opinion, at the heart of its analysis.
The research was conducted through focus group discussions involving participants of an emergency medicine symposium in Nigeria.
Divided into small groups and led by trained facilitators, the participants were asked open-ended, semi-structured questions in English.
Their responses were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using conventional content analysis by two independent investigators, continuing until thematic saturation was achieved.
Three overarching themes emerged from the analysis, painting a picture of Nigeria’s emergency care landscape as rudimentary, vulnerable, and disconnected.
At the prehospital level, participants described major gaps in emergency recognition and response, highlighting the scarcity of functioning ambulances and the limited capacity of frontline responders.
Cultural norms, including public hesitation to intervene in emergencies, were also identified as barriers to effective early care.
WHO guidelines
In May 2019, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution unanimously recognising the critical role that emergency care systems play in preventing death and disability from acute illnesses and injuries.
While many low- and middle-income countries, including Nigeria, acknowledge the importance of emergency care, they continue to face significant challenges in developing these systems.
Historically, limited resources have been prioritised toward combating infectious diseases and addressing maternal and child health, often leaving emergency services underdeveloped.
Universal health coverage, which ensures access to quality healthcare services without financial hardship, remains a key objective for countries looking to strengthen their emergency care systems.
Yet, Nigeria’s health system has long struggled to meet the needs of its growing population, despite improvements in economic indicators.
Between 2000 and 2019, Nigeria’s gross domestic product per capita rose from $568 to $2,230.
However, its healthcare delivery still lags.
Globally, Nigeria ranks 142nd out of 195 countries in terms of healthcare access and quality.
One of the critical challenges facing the country is the mass exodus of trained healthcare professionals. Nigeria continues to experience one of the highest rates of medical brain drain in the world. The nation’s healthcare infrastructure remains inadequate.
Estimates suggest that over half of all deaths in low- and middle-income countries could be prevented through effective emergency care.
In Nigeria, this could mean saving up to one million lives each year, about 3,000 lives daily.
Despite this staggering potential, emergency departments in the country are often run by providers without any formal training in emergency medicine, as there are currently no nationally recognised postgraduate programmes in the specialty.
Roughly 10 to 15 per cent of Nigeria’s 1.6 million annual deaths are believed to occur within emergency departments.
Lagos is one of the few states that has a public ambulance transport system, but many stakeholders have said some of the vehicles are not functional.
Even when ambulances are operational, navigating the city’s traffic-choked roads poses a major obstacle to timely emergency response.
While healthcare professionals have written extensively about the shortcomings of the Nigerian emergency care system and proposed possible solutions, these perspectives rarely include the views of the general public.
The experts have averred that incorporating feedback from the wider community may offer a more inclusive and effective approach, enabling policymakers to develop emergency care solutions that align with the needs, values, and expectations of the people they serve.
‘LASAMBUS saved my life’
The day Ifeoma lost her newborn, she also found something extraordinary. Not in the bleak hospital corridors of the Nigerian Air Force Base in Lagos, where panic had overwhelmed the medical team, nor in the lifeless stillness of the neonatal ward.
She found it in the blare of sirens and the sudden rush of breath that arrived just in time, but perhaps not early enough.
They saved my life,” she says now, her voice even but weighted. “I had been in labour for hours, and it was not progressing. The baby was becoming distressed and had passed out meconium, which is the first faeces produced by a newborn. There was a need for an emergency caesarean section, but I was told the surgeon was not available. I was already placed on oxygen, and a referral was needed. Sadly, the Air Force Base hospital didn’t have an ambulance equipped with oxygen to take me to another advanced facility. I was crashing. The baby was fading fast.”
Ifeoma, a media expert who has reported health for years, recalls placing one desperate call. Within five minutes, the Lagos State Ambulance Services, known popularly as LASAMBUS, had arrived.
“I remember the blue and white ambulance, gleaming even in the haze of my panic. They came with everything – oxygen, monitors and trained personnel. They stabilised me. They drove me to Isolo General Hospital. They didn’t just save me. They stayed. They waited. They made sure I was alright.”
Her baby didn’t make it. But LASAMBUS did.
A system that worked
In its heyday, Lagos State Ambulance Services was a model of public health responsiveness.
First introduced during the tenure of then-Governor Babatunde Fashola and strengthened under his successor Akinwunmi Ambode, LASAMBUS was more than just a fleet of emergency vehicles; it was a lifeline.
Strategically stationed across the state and seamlessly integrated with LASEMA, the service represented a rare feat: a state healthcare infrastructure that worked.
“When you saw LASEMA, you saw LASAMBUS,” says Ifeoma. “There was no delay. There was coordination. In road accidents, in childbirth emergencies, in critical trauma cases, they were there. You’d barely call before hearing the siren.”
And for a time, it made a tangible difference. Stakeholders in Lagos health circles frequently pointed to the system as an example of life-saving governance.
Ambulances were fitted with oxygen tanks, defibrillators, trained medics, and real-time response mechanisms.
“There were zero deaths at scenes where LASAMBUS intervened promptly,” Ifeoma insists.
Where did it all go wrong?
Today, that legacy is in tatters.
Reports of long delays, missing ambulances, and near-absent emergency care have become common. During one recent major emergency (details withheld for privacy), an ambulance reportedly took over 45 minutes to arrive at the scene. In a state as dense, chaotic, and incident-prone as Lagos, those minutes often mean the difference between life and death.
What happened?
“Maintenance died. Priorities shifted. Square pegs found their way into round holes,” says Ifeoma bitterly. “When those who don’t understand emergency health are put in charge of emergency health, this is what you get,” Ifeoma said gloomily.
She points to a larger pattern across the state’s healthcare infrastructure: grand policy announcements followed by poor execution, procurement-driven governance that prioritises new assets over sustaining the old, and a lack of accountability for failures.
“An ambulance isn’t just a vehicle. It’s a mobile ICU. It needs fuel. Servicing. Skilled paramedics. If you treat it like a bus, it becomes a bus.”
Not just broken, forgotten
In several parts of Lagos that once had stationed ambulances, including Ojota, Surulere, Epe, and densely populated areas like Mushin and Alimosho, many LASAMBUS outposts have reportedly become inactive or abandoned.
The sight of a siren-sounding, oxygen-fitted rescue vehicle has become rare.
And with its disappearance, Lagosians have reverted to private alternatives or, worse, improvised solutions.
“People now carry accident victims in Keke NAPEPs. In wheelbarrows. On bikes,” Ifeoma says, her voice thickening. “All this, in 2025, in the same Lagos that once had one of the most responsive ambulance systems in the country.”
Call for inquiry, demand for reform
Health experts are calling for an independent audit into the current state of LASAMBUS.
How many ambulances are functional? How many are parked and abandoned? Who is responsible for oversight? What happened to the collaboration with LASEMA?
“We don’t need new press releases. We need working engines. We need trust rebuilt,” noted a medical practitioner at the state’s teaching hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.
In 2022, the Lagos State government, in a public statement published on its website, said the growing demands of urbanisation and industrialisation have made it intensify efforts to improve emergency medical response through two key services: the Lagos State Emergency Medical Services (known as LASEMS) and LASAMBUS.
Originally inherited as a base hospital system, LASEMS has been strengthened to support in-hospital care, while LASAMBUS, established in March 2001, provides crucial pre-hospital emergency response across the state.
Both services, according to the report, should operate round-the-clock and have been instrumental in improving emergency response times, reducing preventable deaths, and enhancing the quality of trauma and medical care in the state.
LASAMBUS response time below global standards
A 2020 study revealed an average response time of 17 minutes, ranging from seven to 60 minutes, which experts have said was too lengthy relative to global standards.
Factors contributing to delays include traffic congestion (60 per cent), poor incident descriptions (18 per cent), and distance (seven per cent), according to BioMed Central, a public health repository.
In 2019, for instance, LASAMBUS only responded to 37.1 per cent of road traffic accident calls, hindered by poor infrastructure, unfitted vehicles, and dispatch coordination issues.
A performance evaluation of LASAMBUS in 2019 concluded that response rates to RTAs between December 2019 and May 2018 were significantly lower when compared to global standards.
The evaluators had to sift through many illegible forms to make several conclusions. The most jarring of these was that the most common outcomes for RTA calls to LASAMBUS were ‘Crash Already Addressed’ and ‘Did Not Respond’.
Some of the reasons cited for ‘Crash Already Addressed’ were ‘Unknown’ (81.9 per cent), ‘Responded to by Police’ (3.1 per cent), ‘Self-Evacuated’ (2.7 per cent) and ‘Attended to by LASEMA or LRU’ (Lagos State Emergency Management Agency or LASEMA Response Unit).
Other reasons for not responding included ‘no fuel’, ‘no ambulance available’ and ‘found RTA victim already died’.
The causes of the delays that led to the aforementioned outcomes reflect familiar concerns often voiced by Lagosians, including uncertainty about who to call during emergencies, poor road conditions, traffic congestion, long distances, and faulty ambulances, all of which were cited by LASAMBUS staff.
It is no wonder that the mortality rate from RTAs in Nigeria is significantly high.
Every year, there are approximately 20.6 deaths per 100,000 people in Nigeria due to RTAs; this is in comparison to 10.8 deaths per 100,000 people in the UK and 2.9 deaths per 100,000 people in the US.
Sadly, most people in the country only rely on ambulance services to transport corpses to morgues, or during epidemics, to transport patients to isolation or care centres.
A former Deputy Head of Medical Information at Aspen Pharma Group, Dr Helen Zidon, said the wide gap in pre-hospital emergency resources in the country is being filled by privately owned ambulance services, such as Critical Rescue International in Ikeja, 0700 Ambulance Services in Lekki, Ambulance Nigeria in Victoria Island and Braingrace Medical Services in Surulere, among others.
She said, “In that same year, 2019, the Nigerian Communications Commission recently announced that they would be undertaking the task of facilitating the development of Emergency Communications Centres in all 36 states.
“The plan was to ensure that all telecom operators are mandated to route emergency calls through the dedicated three-digit toll-free number, 112, from each state to the emergency centre within that state.
“The state operators will then process the distress call and contact the relevant Emergency Response Agency (e.g. Fire Service, Police, FRSC, Ambulance, etc.) whose primary duty is to handle the case.”
Not sure what happened to this move, but not much has been heard about it since then.
What to do during emergencies in Lagos
Lagos remains the only Nigerian state with a functional emergency medical service that includes a Public Safety Answering Point, placing it ahead of other states in terms of formal emergency response infrastructure.
Despite this relative advantage, the city’s emergency response times still fall below global standards.
In Abuja, this figure extends to 60 minutes. Across the country, only 12 per cent of emergency calls receive timely responses.
In contrast, some private and non-governmental emergency medical systems in Nigeria demonstrate better performance.
Eight Medical, a private first responder service, boasts an average response time of 10 minutes, having responded to over 15,000 calls and reportedly saved 8,000 lives. However, it continues to face challenges, including attacks in semi-urban areas.
Flying Doctors Nigeria offers air ambulance services with a fleet of 20 aircraft and 47 staff. The service caters primarily to clients who can afford its premium offerings.
Additionally, organisations like Trauma Care International Foundation and LFR International have stepped in to bridge the response gap through training.
These groups have trained over 350 paramedics in Lagos and more than 1,000 Federal Road Safety Corps personnel nationwide, aiming to improve first response across critical locations.
While progress has been made, these figures underscore the urgent need for expanded, equitable, and better-coordinated emergency care systems across Nigeria.
During emergencies, residents are advised to please call the toll-free emergency hotline at 112 for all police vehicles, ambulances, fire trucks, etc services.
Lagos govt mute
Efforts to contact the Lagos State Ministry of Health proved futile, as calls to the spokesperson, Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, rang out. Text and WhatsApp messages were also not responded to.
An email sent to the ministry’s official address ([email protected]) at 6:52 am on Wednesday, June 9, 2025, had yet to be replied to as of press time on Friday.
Similarly, the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Dr Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, did not respond to calls, text messages, or WhatsApp messages.
Efforts to reach the Director of LASAMBUS, Mrs Wuruola Makinde, were also unsuccessful.
(punch)
