FIRE and Rescue Service officers in Geita region have arrested a woman identified as Shedida Ibrahim for misleading the force by falsely reporting a fire incident.
Inspector Edward Lukuba from the Force said that the suspect committed the offence on September 5 this year after she made a phone call through an emergency number 114, informing the Force that fire had broken out at her neighbours’ house.
“The suspect introduced herself as Ms Rehema before she falsely reported the fire incident…our officers rushed to the scene where they could not find any accident as it had been reported by the suspect.” he said.
He added: “We tried to call her but her line could not be reached as it was either switched off or not in use at the moment but on September 6 this year our officers conducted cyber search, managing to arrest her.”
Inspector Lukuba explained that after conducting thorough scrutiny in list of phone calls they discovered that Ms Ibrahim’s phone number was among the lines which had been calling the Force, reporting fake incidents.
He said that when interrogated, Ms Ibrahim admitted to have committed the offence, saying that she has been doing it for fun.
Inspector Lukuba further urged Geita citizens to use the emergency number 114 for firefighting or rescue services and not otherwise, adding that the hotline was there to save lives and property.
He said such false information had detrimental effect to the force.
Inspector Lukuba warned that any individual who violates the Fire and Rescue Force Act and its regulations is liable to 3m/- fine or 12 months imprisonment.
In her defence, the suspect said that she made the call without knowing that it could cause her problem.
“I was not convinced by anyone to make the phone call, I did it myself and it is my first time I am calling the force,” she said.
