New Telegraph

Delta: Equipment, documents burnt as fire razes Federal Secretariat

Fire fighter hospitalised

Sensitive materials, office equipment and other valuables yet to be estimated were burnt yesterday when fire gutted the Federal Secretariat on Okpanam Road, Asaba, Delta State. Passers-by and workers, who resumed duty at about 7.30am, were the first to see smoke preceding the fire and raised the alarm.

This came barely six weeks after fire razed the Control Room of the State Police Command Headquarters, which is a few metres away from the Secretariat. The Police Headquarters’ inferno was attributed then to an electrical surge. Also, it happened a few weeks after gunmen set ablaze four police divisions, including those of Nsukwa, Umutu and Ashaka, and about five policemen were killed while their rifles were stolen. In yesterday’s fire outbreak, the apartment housing the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Headquarters at the Secretariat was completely burnt.

Sensitive files on serving corps members and those who have completed their national assignments went up in flames. Workers, operating from about 30 ministries in the complex, including visitors, business owners, nursing mothers and their babies in the offices, were running helterskelter when the fire broke out. A physically-challenged worker was said to have missed her steps while rushing down the staircases of the complex. Car owners dashed down from the five-storey building to drive their vehicles out of the premises. Although speculation was rife that gunmen set the complex on fire, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Bright Edafe, said the offices were under locked and key hence it might have resulted from an electrical appliance. He said: “There is no access to the place.

It was the NYSC section that the fire consumed. The officials are in the camp. It is possible that it was caused by an electrical fault.” The NYSC headquarters is located on the second floor of the Federal Secretariat. The state NYSC Coordinator, Mrs. Olutayo Samuel, who wept that sensitive materials got burnt,including her valuables, debunked the claim that it was perpetrated by the rampaging gunmen in the state. Samuel said the source of the inferno was still unknown. She said: “What happened is unfortunate. I got a call that our office was on fire. I don’t know how the fire started. Nobody can ascertain exactly the cause of the fire. “Virtually everything inside the office got damaged or burnt. All the files and documents were burnt to aches but we have back-up. This is technology age. Everything is in our system. “Coincidentally, we took some of our computer systems to the camp, so there will be no setback “It is a colossal damage. I cannot cost it now. The important thing is that there is no life lost. I feel good because whatever damaged will be replaced.” A fire service official, who spoke on anonymity, said if not for the quick response, the fire would have escalated to other sections of the complex and burnt the entire Secretariat. The official said a fire fighter was unlucky as he fell into the fire. He said: “We quickly rushed him to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba. We have spoken with the Medical Director of the hospital and he said they are attending to him. What really happened today is sad.”

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