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-count charge of bridging the public peace and making a hoax fire emergency call.
The culprit had reportedly placed a call on Friday, April 14, 2023 at 5:35.p.m 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 fighters at the estate, every efforts to trace the acclaimed fire outbreak proved abortive.
He, however, first appeared in court on April 19, which was adjourned till Thursday, April 27 for the conclusion of the matter in record time to ensure that justice is not denied.
At the resumption, Magistrate Bambo Odueke committed him to a month imprisonment with an option of a fine and a month of community service that included campaign against false calls within the jurisdiction of the state. Whereas the convict opted for the fine.
The magistrate, who tempered justice with mercy, passed the minimum verdict of the law on him after the defendant showed remorse and wasted no time of the court by pleading guilty to bridging the public peace and making hoax fire emergency call.
The ruling also followed the court’s acknowledgement of the noble firefighting profession and the effective service delivery of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service that required the encouragement of all and sundry.
The Director, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Mrs. Margaret Adeseye, expressed her 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 also used the occasion to note the seemingly 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 champion by the agency.
