Sunday, January 15, 2012

Nigerian National Assembly Gutted By Fire!!

Save for the timely intervention
of officers and men of the fire
fighting service of the National
Assembly a fire outbreak at the
main building of the assembly
complex this afternoon would
have resulted into a very major
catastrophe. An eye witness told
Businessday that the fire started
at the office of the Secretary to
the Clerk National Assembly
(CNA) on the third floor of the
main building by about 1.00pm.
The heavy smoke bellowing
from the office attracted the
attention of one of the
sergeant-at-arms who quickly
raised alarm and contacted men
of the fire fighting services,
which office was just a stone
throw away. The fire fighters
promptly rushed to the scene of
the outbreak and struggled to
put it out before serious
damage could be done.
Although the major cause of the
fire outbreak could not be
immediately ascertained, it was
suspected that the incident
resulted from electrical cause.
One of the fire fighters who
participated in putting out the
fire narrated to Businessday
how the incident took place.
“The fire started at about 1pm.
We were in our office just there
(pointing to their office nearby)
when one of these sergeant-at-
arms rushed to our office and
shouting that there was fire.”
“When we got there the whole
place was covered with smoke
we could not find our way
through easily. Apart from that,
there was nobody to bring the
keys and open the offices for us
to move in.
“We were just there struggling
to see how we can enter until
one of us just forced one door
open before we could enter. If
not that it is a place we are very
familiar with we, we could have
found it difficult to locate the
actual place. But we were able
to locate the office. They said it
is the office of the secretary to
the CNA. By the time we got
there the whole office was
smoking heavily but we were
able to tackle it before the fire
could spread into other offices,”
he said.
When Businessday visited the
scene of the incident at 5.00pm
the Chief Security of the National
Assembly, Col. Emeka Okere (rtd)
and some of his staff were on
hand to ensure that nobody
was allowed entry into the
building. Men of the fire fighting
services were also there
sweeping out the flood of water
used in quelling the fire.
Also, the fire fighting lorry used
putting out the fire with
registration number, NASS, FL
278 Mgt was stationed in front
of the main building. The air
around the entire vicinity of the
main building was oozing out
the smell of burnt debris.
Gaining entry into the National
Assembly on its own was a very
difficult task as security in and
around the assembly complex
was very very tight.
The entire eagle square leading
into the National Assembly was
cordoned off by the combined
security agencies, including the
army, police, Directorate of State
Security (DSS), Civil defence, men
of the directorate of traffic
service (VIO), road safety etc.
The Eagle Square was being
prepared for a special parade
that would be inspected by
President Goodluck Jonathan as
part of the events to mark this
year’s Armed Forces
remembrance day.

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