Senate moves to create nationwide toll-free emergency number

The Senate on Tuesday took a major step toward strengthening Nigeria’s emergency response system by considering a bill seeking to establish a uniform, toll-free national emergency number accessible to citizens across all states.

The proposed legislation, titled “A Bill for an Act to Establish the National Emergency Toll Service (NETS) to Provide Uniform, Accessible and Rapid Emergency Response Through a Dedicated Toll-Free Number Nationwide, to Empower the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) as the Regulator, and for Related Matters, 2025 (SB 402),” passed second reading.

Leading debate on the bill, Abdulaziz Yar’adua (Katsina Central) said the proposed law aims to harmonise Nigeria’s numerous emergency lines into one easily memorable three-digit number, such as 112 or another option to be finalised after the public hearing.

He noted that globally recognised emergency numbers like 999 in the United Kingdom (introduced in 1937) and 911 in the United States (established in 1968) have saved countless lives by simplifying access to emergency services.

India’s unified emergency number, he added, became operational in 2014.

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Yar’adua explained that Nigeria currently operates multiple helplines managed by the police, fire service, ambulance units, domestic violence agencies, child protection centres, and state disaster response services.

Lagos State alone, he said, runs several toll-free emergency numbers managed by different agencies, a situation senators described as confusing and inefficient during life-threatening emergencies.

According to him, the bill would ensure that calls or text messages sent to the national emergency line are automatically routed to the nearest functional emergency response centre, leveraging the fact that nearly 90% of Nigerians use mobile phones.

Ali Ndume (Borno South) strongly backed the proposal, calling it “timely, very important, and urgently needed.”

He argued that one of the biggest contributors to Nigeria’s worsening insecurity is the absence of a coordinated communication channel between citizens and security agencies.

“If we do this, we will be enhancing our security architecture and contributing significantly to solving the criminalities affecting the country,” Ndume said, urging swift passage and implementation.

Also supporting the bill, Senator Tahir Monguno (Borno North) said unified emergency communication is essential in a period marked by “grave security challenges across the country.”

He stressed that while security agencies continually urge citizens to report suspicious behaviour, the government must provide a simple and accessible means for doing so.

“This bill gives muscular expression to the need for the general public to report what they see,” Monguno said, adding that a dedicated toll-free national line would eliminate the current confusion created by multiple emergency numbers.

In his remarks, Jibrin Barau, the Deputy Senate who presided over the session, thanked the sponsor and contributors, describing the initiative as one that would “truly help the people of this country once implemented.”

The bill was subsequently referred to the Senate Committee on Communications for further legislative action, with a directive to report back within four weeks.

If passed and signed into law, the bill will empower the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to regulate the system, coordinate emergency response agencies, and ensure seamless, nationwide access to emergency services.

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