In 2023, Lagos State reported a total of 1,461 emergency incidents spanning from January 1 to December 31. The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) fulfilled its statutory duties of responding to, rescuing, recovering, and reducing disaster risks by addressing 6,442 incidents throughout the year.
Out of the 138 incidents attended to in December 2023, the Truck/Tanker category dominated with 58 incidents, including 39 truck/tanker accidents, 12 breakdowns, two fallen tanker/truck incidents, and two stuck tanker incidents. The Road Accident category accounted for 29 vehicle crashes, the Medical category had eight assorted cases, and the Fire Disaster category recorded 11 cases, involving seven fire outbreaks, one tanker/truck, and three vehicular fires.
In the Medical Category, eight incidents were recorded, while the Other Events category encompassed 19 incidents, such as two bridge repairs, one assault, and various cases. The Building Collapse category reported nine cases, including two building collapses, five partial collapses, and two collapsed bridges, while the Oil Spillages/Leakages category recorded one incident. Notably, there were no reported cases of explosions, marine incidents, train or air crashes in December 2023.
Analyzing incidents per Local Government, Alimosho LGA, with its dense population and largest landmass, led with 25 cases out of the total 138 in December 2023. Other LGAs, such as Kosofe, Ikeja, Mushin, and Lagos Island, also recorded varying numbers of incidents.
Looking at the entire year, the data showed that the Truck/Tanker/Trailer category accounted for the highest number of incidents with 638 cases, followed by Road Accidents/Crashes with 418 incidents, and the Medical Category with 141 incidents. The least incidents, numbering three, were recorded in the Marine, Train, and Air Crash Categories.
Examining emergency trends in local governments for the entire year, Alimosho Local Government recorded the most incidents with 242 cases, followed by Ikeja with 191 incidents, and Kosofe with 158 cases. In terms of monthly trends, October 2023 had the highest number of cases (145), followed by December (138), and January (129). The lowest numbers were reported in May (106), April (111), and November (112).
Over the last five years (June 1, 2019 – December 31, 2023), LASEMA attended to a total of 6,442 incidents in Lagos State. The highest number of incidents occurred in 2021 with 1,743 cases, followed by 2022 with 1,682 cases, and a downward trend was sustained in 2023 with 1,461 cases.
