Fire Engulfs Abuja Federal Secretariat, Destroys Documents, Valuables...

Fire Engulfs Abuja Federal Secretariat, Destroys Documents, Valuables:...

An inferno, which allegedly began from the 5th floor of the Federal Secretariat, Abuja yesterday, nearly consumed the entire multi-billion naira building but for the timely intervention of men of the Nigerian Fire Service.

The combined team of the Federal and FCT Fire Services put out the fire which started by 1.30pm and engulfed the 5th floor of the phase 3 housing the Federal Ministry of Education at the secretariat.

LEADERSHIP learnt that the minister of education was holding a meeting with principals of Unity Schools across the country as the fire spread to the 6th floor of the building. The meeting was said to have ended abruptly as the minister and others were evacuated from the building.
Federal-Secretariat--AbujaPublic relations officer of the Federal Fire Service, Mr Collins Elechi, who confirmed the incident, said the fire started at the 5th floor and later spread to the 6th floor.

Elechi, an assistant comptroller, said the cause of the fire was not immediately known, but confirmed that there was no casualty in the incident. He, however, lamented that one of the immediate constraints his men faced in quenching the inferno was that the Federal Secretariat building had no fire hydrant.

Speaking to journalists on the issue, the minister of state for education, Prof Viola Onwuliri, said, “But for the prompt intervention of the Fire Service, the fire would have been more than this. You can see how many trucks they came along with and they have assured me that they would find the point where the fire started.”