Finance Ministry Explains Fire Incident Alarm
- No Cause for Alarm – Fire Service boss
BY EDMOND ODOK – The Federal Ministry of Finance Headquarters on Wednesday has explained that contrary to some reports on the social media, offices within its complex were not gutted by fire.
Reacting to the fire report, Special Adviser, Media and Communications to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi said there was only a minor incident on the corridor in the building’s basement involving an isolated battery pack.
According to him, the situation was immediately brought under control by the security personnel on duty.
Also speaking on the incident, the Controller General of the Federal Fire Service, Dr. Karebo Pere Samson says residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have no reason to panic following the reported fire outbreak at the Federal Ministry of Finance Headquarters.
Dr Samson, who assured that the situation was immediately brought under control, said there was no cause for alarm.
In a statement titled; “Federal Ministry of Finance Fire Incident: No Cause for Alarm”, the Fire Service Chief Executive was quoted as saying; “The Control room of Federal Fire Service on Wednesday received a fire call at about 7:00 hours concerning a fire outbreak at the Headquarters of the Federal ministry of Finance, three fire stations of the Service within the Federal Capital Territory namely Garki, Wuse and Secretariat Stations were immediately deployed to the scene.
“Owing to the importance of the Ministry of Finance to national security the Controller General directed the Assistant Controller General in charge of Federal Operations to coordinate the operations.”
Signed by the Public Relations Officer, Federal Fire Service, ACF Paul Abraham, the statement said; “Men on of the Federal Fire Service who arrived the scene at about 2 minutes after they received the call discovered that some staff of the Ministry had used fire extinguisher to bring the situation under control. Fire fighters carried out on the spot assessment to ensure a no case of reignition before leaving the scene.
“The CGF, who commended the Ministry of Finance for ensuring that the office has fire protection equipment in place such as fire extinguisher called on Nigerians to take a queue from the Ministry of Finance by equipping their homes and offices with fire equipment.”
“Investigation has commenced to ascertain the actual cause of the fire”, the statement added
