Fire outbreak at federal secretariat, Abuja, extinguished

There was a fire outbreak at the federal secretariat in Abuja on Thursday, but it was extinguished by men of the federal fire service.

Viola Onwuliri, minister of education who addressed journalists at the scene of the incident, said no casualty was recorded.

“I have come to commend the men of the fire service for their prompt,” she said.

“Most importantly, nobody, no staffer, no visitor was hurt. They found where it started, and they have put it out. We are only waiting outside to return to our offices.”

The extent of damage to the secretariat could not be immediately ascertained, but the building housing the ministry of education was the most affected.

The cause of the fire, which started about 2pm, had not been identified as at press time, but there were indications it may have been sparked off by an electrical fault.

A combined team of Federal Fire Service and FCT Fire Service, on Thursday put out a fire which engulfed part of the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.

At the time of the fire outbreak, Ibrahim Shekarau, the minister of education was holding meeting with principals of unity schools from across the country. The meeting ended abruptly, as the minister and other officials were immediately evacuated from the building.

Collins Elechi, public relations officer of the federal fire service, also confirmed the incident, saying there were no casualties.

“We cannot ascertain the cause of the fire now, until later. It started from the fifth floor and remained between it and the sixth floor,” he said.

“As you can see, the fire has been put off. We curtailed it from spreading to adjourning property.”

The fireman, however, complained that the building had no hydrant.

“There is need for a functional hydrant in this building, we could not see one. We are not, of course, indicting the occupants of this building, but that is one of the challenges we met.”

Labaran Haman, the research and rescue officer of the national emergency management agency, said investigation to determine the cause of the fire was ongoing.