The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, on Thursday launched a sensitisation and awareness campaign for users of COSPAS-SARSAT emergency beacons in Nigeria, aimed at enhancing safety and reducing false distress alerts.
The campaign, organised by the Nigerian Mission Control Centre, NIMCC, was held at the Nigerian Air Force Base in Kano with the theme, ‘Keeping Abreast with Emerging Technology’.
Declaring the programme open, the Director-General of NEMA, Hajiya Zubaida Umar, said the initiative was designed to equip beacon users with the knowledge and skills required to effectively operate the life-saving devices across land, sea and air domains.
Umar, who was represented by the Director of Search and Rescue at NEMA, Air Commodore B.A. Usman, described the COSPAS-SARSAT system as a critical component of Nigeria’s national safety infrastructure.
She said the effectiveness of the system largely depended on proper understanding and correct usage by subscribers.
According to her, the programme would provide participants with an overview of the COSPAS-SARSAT system, the role of emergency beacons in search and rescue operations, best practices for installation and maintenance, strategies for reducing false alerts, and standard emergency procedures.
Umar added that the forum was also aimed at strengthening collaboration among government agencies and private sector stakeholders to ensure timely response to distress signals and ultimately save lives.
Speaking at the event, the Head of the Mission Control Centre at NEMA, Navy Captain A.O. Oriyomi, said the sensitisation forum was a statutory requirement mandated by relevant coastal and aviation safety authorities.
He explained that the campaign became necessary due to the increasing number of false alerts received from unregistered or poorly managed beacons, stressing the importance of proper registration for aircraft, vessels and personal devices.
“Registration ensures that in the event of an emergency, we can quickly identify and locate users for prompt response,” Oriyomi said.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, Ahmad Umar-Faruk, described the sensitisation exercise as timely and critical, particularly at a period when technology and coordination largely determine the efficiency of emergency response systems.
Umar-Faruk, who was represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Operations, Ibrahim Haske, reaffirmed NAMA’s commitment to working closely with NEMA and other stakeholders to build a resilient, technology-driven search and rescue ecosystem, while advocating regular training for personnel.
During the forum, Ogba Emmanuel presented a paper on an overview of the COSPAS-SARSAT system, while the Chief Technical Officer of NEMA Search and Rescue, Toyin Ogunleye, spoke on the prevalence of 406MHz beacon false alerts, revealing that 40 false alerts were recorded in 2025.
One of the participants, Olakunbi Abiodun, Airport Services Manager of Qatar Airways in Kano, commended NEMA for organising the sensitisation programme, but noted that such engagements should have started earlier to improve communication and integration of emergency response plans across the aviation industry.
NAN reports that key stakeholders, including officials of NEMA, Kano State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, the Nigerian Red Cross Society, NiMET and other relevant agencies, attended the event.
