by Isi Esene
There was panic yesterday at the headquarters of the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC), in Abuja, as fire gutted its
registry department.
The fire, which started around 9am raged for about 30minutes before it was put under control.
Many feared the damage caused by the fire would have a crippling
effect on preparations for the next general elections in the country but
officials of the commission say this is not true.
According to the director (public affairs) of the INEC, Emmanuel Umenger, no vital document was destroyed by the fire.
“The fire outbreak has no effect on the oncoming elections as no data was affected,” he said.
While corroborating his statement, Chidi Nwafor, the commission’s
director of information and communications technology said, “Our data,
sensitive data system, and our saver where all the data and operations
are kept are intact; nothing has been damaged, we are still
investigating. It is just that office and some office equipment were
burnt.”
Scenes of the fire incident
Sources say the inferno was put under control by the joint effort of
men of the Federal Fire Service and the National Emergency Management
Agency (NEMA) who responded quickly to the distress call made by
officials of the commission.
“There was a fire incident this morning. Between 9:12am and 9:30am,
we started perceiving odour like a burnt odour, so what we did was to
look for the place. It was in the department they call voter registry.
“Most of us that were around that time had to use the
normal fire extinguisher to try to stop the fire and at the same time
we called the fire service and the fire service came, when the fire
service came the NEMA came, as I am talking to you now, the fire has
been quenched. So, no more fire now. It was only one office that was
affected,” said Nwafor.
In a statement
reportedly
released by Yushau Shuaib, the spokesman for the NEMA regarding the
INEC fire incident, further damage was averted by the quick response of
the agency’s officers to the distress call to them.
“The Head of Abuja Operation Office of NEMA, Ishaya
Chonoko, has confirmed a fire outbreak that occurred this morning
(Monday) gutting an office in the Annex Building of INEC.
“The timely response of rescue officers, especially
firefighters from the Federal and FCT Fire Service saved the situation
from affecting other buildings within the premises.
“So far only an office (Office of the Director of
Registry) was affected. There was no record of casualty because of the
swift response to the distress call. The INEC office is behind the
office of NEMA in Maitama, Abuja.”
Recently in Abeokuta, Ogun State, a section of the
Hilltop mansion of former president Olusegun Obasanjo was also gutted by
fire but was quickly put off by men of the Nigeria Security and Civil
Defense Corp.