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.
It was 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 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.(Punch)
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