Evaluation of Safety Measures against Bomb Blasts in Motor Park Environments in Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

Frequent bomb blasts have been leading to the loss of lives and destruction of valuable properties in the northern part and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria. Hence, this problem brought a need for a study to be carried out in motor park environments in Abuja, since it is located in the centre of Nigeria. The aim of the research is to evaluate the safety measures against bomb blasts in motor park environments in Abuja, in order to generate guidelines to improve security in the FCT motor parks via the knowledge of building design and other protective means. The instruments that were used to collect the primary research data are the questionnaires administered to 20 management staff (union staff) of the motor park, 100 sales people and 100 passengers in the motor park in conjunction with interview questions; a direct observation schedule. Secondary data were gotten from the reviews of relevant materials to this research. Tables and photographs were used to present and analyse the data; the results of the analyses were accepted by normality tests. Among the findings are: part of the motor park fence is made up of wooden struts and ordinary wire mesh of the height of 1.6 metres as measured which is not adequate enough to stop the bombers from invading the motor park; the safety gargets against bomb blasts such as Closed-circuit Television (CCTV) Cameras and bomb detectors are not available in the motor park. These showed that the safety measures against bomb blasts in the study area are not adequate. Therefore, among the recommended guidelines are: motor park fences should be made up of concrete or stone walls or any other strong walling material to be able to resist bomb blasts and they should not be less than 2.4 metres height; motor parks must have security gargets such as CCTV cameras and bomb detectors against bomb blasts.