The Senate has begun deliberations on a bill seeking to establish a uniform, toll-free emergency number for Nigerians across all states.
Gatekeepers News reports that the proposed legislation, titled ‘A Bill for an Act to Establish the National Emergency Toll Service (NETS)… and for Related Matters, 2025 (SB 402),’ aims to standardise emergency response through a single, accessible three-digit number.
Leading debate on the general principles of the bill during Tuesday’s plenary, Abdulaziz Yar’adua, senator representing Katsina Central, said the law would unify Nigeria’s multiple helplines into one easy-to-remember number—potentially 112 or another option to be determined after a public hearing.
Yar’adua cited examples from other countries, noting that the UK and US have improved emergency outcomes using 999 and 911, while India adopted a unified emergency number in 2014.
He observed that Nigeria currently operates various hotlines for police, fire service, ambulance services, domestic violence, child protection, and disaster management.
He added that Lagos alone has several toll-free numbers linked to different agencies, describing the situation as “confusing and counterproductive during emergencies”.
“Therefore, a toll-free emergency number would go a long way in ensuring that Nigerians in distress are just a call away from the relevant emergency institutions,” Yar’adua said.
“The number would provide a one-stop shop for receiving distress calls from the public and dispatching the same to appropriate response agencies.”
He explained that calls or text messages to the national line would be automatically routed to the nearest response centre, leveraging the widespread use of mobile phones in the country.
The bill received broad support from lawmakers. Ali Ndume, senator representing Borno South, described it as “timely, very important, and urgently needed.”
“If we do this, we will be enhancing our security architecture and contributing significantly to solving the criminalities affecting the country,” Ndume said.
“One of the impediments we are facing during this security crisis is lack of communication by various security agencies.”
Tahir Monguno, senate chief whip and senator representing Borno North, also endorsed the bill, stressing the need for a simple and obstruction-free channel for citizens to report suspicious activities.
“This bill gives muscular expression to the need for the general public to report what they see,” he said.
Presiding over the session, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin praised the initiative, calling it a “wonderful arrangement to help the people of this country whenever it is implemented.”
The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Communications, which is expected to report back within four weeks. If passed, the legislation will empower the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to regulate the system and ensure seamless nationwide access to emergency services.
