A fire outbreak on Monday morning, March 9, 2026 engulfed parts of the office complex housing the office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation situated at the Federal Secretariat Abuja in the Central Business District of the nation’s capital city.
The development caused serious panic among workers and some early visitors to the secretariat.
Eyewitness accounts said the thick smoke was suddenly seen billowing into the sky from the building, a development that made staff and passersby to quickly raise alarm and calling for emergency responders to respond appropriately.
This was as motorists and other onlookers had to slow down their movements around the secretariat complex as the smoke spread across the area.
Most of the civil servants who had reported for work were forced to remain outside the premises as the rage of the fire was spreading to other offices within the complex.
One of the civil servants whose office is situated within the building said the cause of the fire was still unknown and merely said; “the building is on fire, but nobody can say what caused it”.
The unfortunate incident marked the second time the building constructed by Bulletin Nigeria Ltd is being engulfed by fire within three years.
A similar incident occurred within the same office complex in December 2023, during which the fire gutted parts of the facility.
Another eye witness said the fire was first noticed at about 8:20 a.m. just as videos shared on social media showed thick black smoke rising from the section of the building where the incident happened.
The fire mainly affected Section C of the building located inside the Federal Secretariat complex housing the office of the Head of Service of the Federation which led workers in the building to quickly vacate the area.
The media department of the Office of the Head of Service later confirmed the incident, saying however, that the fire was restricted to Section C of the building and that emergency teams had already moved in to control the situation.
“The fire outbreak is limited to Section C of the building and is currently being attended to by emergency officials,” the office said.
