Update! On Fire Incident At Federal Secretariat Abuja

The Police Service Commission wing of the Federal Secretariat, Abuja was yesterday afternoon gutted by fire. No life was lost in the incident.

The fire started at about 1:30pm and forced workers to flee in panic while some were stuck in the elevator as electricity supply to the building was affected.

Dark smoke from the building alerted people of the incident.

At the height of the fire, the Minister of Education, Ibrahim Shekarau, who was meeting with Unity School Principals was hurriedly escorted out of the building.

At 2:15 pm, nothing had been done to put out the inferno, even as about eight fire trucks were parked round the building but their water hose, fire fighters and equipment could not get up to the height where the fire started. They made frantic efforts to stop it from spreading as workers tried to  retrieve their documents and credentials.

Our reporter who was on the second floor in a meeting with the minister, which ended abruptly confirmed the fire started on the fifth floor.

Spokesman of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Fire Service, Elechi Collins, confirmed to reporters that the fire started on the fifth floor. He assured that no life was lost and that everything was under control.

“At 1:35 pm, we got a call and of course, our resolve to attend to the fire promptly. You could see the number of fire trucks here. We have been able to stop its spread,” he said.

Minister of State for Education, Prof Viola Onwuliri, commended the fire men for their effectiveness and for putting out the fire.

“I think the situation is really being managed by the fire service. I commend them for their prompt intervention, you can see how many trucks they came with. I was talking to the man in charge of this operation this afternoon, he assured that they found the point where the fire started on the fifth floor and that they assured they would get everything under control,” she said.