There was pandemonium on Wednesday as the Mamman Kontagora House, owned
by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, on the Lagos Island was gutted by
fire.
Our correspondent noted that a law firm and the Nigeria Deposit
Insurance Corporation offices were also affected.
The complex has two sides, each of which has 11 floors. The structure
facing Broad Street was not affected. The affected section is the one facing
Marina.
It was learnt that the inferno, which started around 9am, was caused by
a surge from a generator on the third floor.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the surge was fuelled by the diesel kept beside the
generator, which aided the fire that spread to upper floors.
As of 12.30pm when PUNCH Metro arrived at the scene, the fire
had extended to the seventh floor. Firefighters were seen making frantic
efforts to put out the inferno, while policemen and officials of the Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps tried to secure the area.
An employee of the FMBN, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said
the load on the generator was more than its capacity. He also blamed the
management for mounting the generator inside the complex.
He said, “You don’t need to be told that the generator was overloaded
once you hear its sound. The oil section was also leaking, which showed it was
due for servicing. Besides, locating a generator inside a complex like this is
not safe.”
Another worker of the bank, who identified himself simply as Muyiwa,
said no casualty was recorded so far.
A worker of NDIC, who declined to give his name, said the effects of
the fire would have been minimal if the fire extinguishers in the complex were
in good shape.
“All the fire extinguishers had expired. Almost all our documents were
burnt and several other items were destroyed. I can’t actually estimate the
loss but it was much,” he said.
The Head of Operation, Lagos State Emergency Agency, Femi Giwa, said
the inferno was aided by inflammable substances.
He said, “We have carried out hazard analysis and risk assessment and
we found out that the inferno actually started from the third floor.
“There is a small generator house and a surface tank used to store
diesel. So, immediately the fire started, the fuel aided it.
“The inferno spread from there to the seventh floor. For now, we have
been able to curtail the spread of the fire.”
The Managing Director, FMBN, Gimba Ya’u Kumo, said the extent of the
damage would be communicated to the press after the outcome of the risk
assessment. He also said the inferno was caused by the faulty generator.
“We don’t have any report to give presently, but the preliminary
information we gathered tells us that the fire outbreak is from the generator
room. We have spoken with the facility manager and we have been informed that
they tried to service the generator yesterday. We leave this to the state fire
service and the experts coming to do the risk assessment. Everything is going
to be done professionally and you will be informed of the development. No major
document from our side is lost.”
The Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasaq Fadipe, said his men
responded immediately they received the distress call.
“The distress call came in at 9.13am and I quickly dispatched the fire
trucks from Onikan with N10,000 litres of water each. The fire trucks were
further complemented by other trucks from the state fire service and the Lagos
State Emergency Management Agency.”
A statement from the NDIC’s spokesman, H. S. Birchi, said, “The
Managing Director of the NDIC, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, has visited the building.
“It has become necessary to temporarily relocate all the NDIC staff
from the Mamman Kontagora House to NECOM House to ensure continuity of service
and to enable experts to assess the extent of damage.
It is hoped that normal activities will resume at the Mamman Kontagora
House on Monday.
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