The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said it is intensifying the use of youth volunteers and non-governmental organisations to tackle disaster incidents in the country.

The agency's Head of Public Relations, Mr. Yushau Shuaib told THISDAY Sunday that NEMA has embarked on the recruitment and training of more volunteers to help improve its capacity and readiness to respond to emergency situations in the rural areas.

"We are recruiting volunteers across the country, especially within the disaster prone areas so that they can assist the agency in carrying out sensitization of the communities as well as in immediate response to disaster incidents," he said.

He said NEMA is also exploring partnership initiatives with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to assist in the distribution of relief materials and other humanitarian interventions for disaster victims.