Lawyers flee as fire razes chamber of Lagos chief judge

There was pandemonium at the premises of the Lagos state high court, Igbosere, on Wednesday, as fire gutted the chambers of Funmilayo Atilade, chief judge of the state.

One of the court registrars, who pleaded anonymity, said the fire started from one of the air-conditioning units in the CJ’s chamber “and before anyone could know about it, it had gone out of control’’.

The registrar said his colleagues, litigants and lawyers hurriedly ran down the stairs, to save their vehicles.

An unconfirmed report said the fire started when one of the cleaners switched on a faulty air-conditioner and left the room.

But, another witness said the inferno was noticed by a security woman popularly called Alhaja, who immediately raised an alarm.

The security woman was said to have been taken to the hospital as a result of the smoke she allegedly inhaled, before the arrival of the firefighters.

The timely intervention of the Lagos state fire service prevented the fire from spreading to other courtrooms.

The witness, who does not want his name mentioned, said it took the firefighters about one hour to put off the fire, as a result of heavy smoke emitting from the court room.

The inferno disrupted activities as the gates of the building were locked for about three hours.

Some of the furniture and bookshelves in the CJ’s chamber were partly destroyed as a result of the incident.