THE Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) has commenced the disinfection of its headquarters and 10 other offices around the country to stem the spread of coronavirus.
This is being done through the installation of locally made disinfectant tunnels and hand blowers.
The disinfectant tunnel, which was produced by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), is also fitted with a temperature censor that lets out a siren when a person’s temperature is above normal.
Executive Chairman of FIRS, Mohammad Nami, said the lives and safety of its staff is key to the management, which is why they are trying to protect them from the virus.
He added that FIRS is very important to the nation since it contributes over 70% of the resources shared every month by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), which is the reason why the management is making the effort to protect its staff.
Nami, who spoke in Abuja while receiving the device from NASENI, said: “The essence of our patronising them is to encourage agency to agency collaboration.
“We have people that produce this. Some are imported but we felt that we should patronise our sister agency who we feel can do better than what is being marketed to us.
“Secondly, the lives and safety of our staff is key, because as you will deduce from our monthly FACC allocation committee reports, FIRS today contributes over 70% of what is being shared at FAAC on a monthly basis, so the need for us as a team in management to protect the lives of our staff has become a priority to the current management.
“We have chosen about 10 locations in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, Kaduna and some other offices that we feel there is a lot of traffic, so that the staff and taxpayers are both protected from the virus.”
The Executive Vice Chairman NASENI, Prof Mohammed Haruna, explained that although the disinfectant tunnels will not cure the virus, it will prevent individuals from bringing it into the premises.
He said: “The safety tunnel disinfects individuals as they enter your premises. With the disinfection and with the virological result that we have, you can be sure nobody is bringing in virus to your premises.
“We are not saying that an infected person will be cured when he goes through the tunnel, but he will be disinfected so that he will not carry any life virus into your premises.
“Also the purpose of the hand blowers is to disinfect people. The chemical in it is suitable for the environment. These are tested, certified and approved chemicals that are safe for human beings.”