Fire guts football federation’s headquarters

Firefighters at the scene of the incident

Fire on Wednesday gutted the Glass House headquarters of the Nigeria Football Federation in Wuse Zone 7, Abuja.

The Glass House is located within the same premises with the Federal Capital Territory Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps.

The fire, which was said to have started at about 9.30am, destroyed the offices of the NFF’s Chief Accountant, the Secretary General and the Information and Communications Technology Unit.

The fire was said to have started from the office of the Chief Accountant, from where it spread to other parts of the secretariat.

Sources said when the smoke was noticed in the Chief Accountant’s office, people rushed there, but could not gain access to the office because the door was locked.

Though officials of the NFF said the cause of the fire had not been identified as of the time the fire was put out at about 11 am, some NFF workers suspected it could have been triggered by an electrical fault within the Chief Accountant’s office.

Apart from some boxes which appeared untouched by the fire, the roof and the glass wall of the affected offices along with other items in the offices, including, computers, furniture and books were all destroyed.

No life was lost in the incident.

Firefighters were said to have arrived on the scene of the incident about 45 minutes after the fire started and were only able to contain the fire from extending to other parts of the building.

Our correspondent counted seven fire engines belonging to the Federal Service and the FCT Fire Service and another one belonging to Julius Berger Construction Company.

Sector Commander of the FRSC, Susan Ajenge, said she first noticed the fire from her office at about 9.30am and immediately deployed her men in the Glass House before the arrival of the firefighters.

Deputy Controller in Charge of Operations, FCT Fire Services, Mr. Julius Opetunsin, said he got the call about the incident at about 10.02am and immediately alerted his men who he said arrived on the scene about 15 minutes later.

Opetunsin said his men’s operation was delayed by eight minutes because the manner in which cars were parked within the premises prevented easy access.

He said, “I got the call at about 10.02am and I immediately alerted my men. When we got here at about a quarter past 10am, we could not immediately gain access because of the way vehicles were parked.

“We were delayed for about eight minutes. But we were still able to contain the fire from spreading to the other parts of the building.”

He said the cause of the fire could not be immediately ascertained until an investigation was conducted.

“Before we can identify the cause of the fire incident, we have to carry out our investigation. That means we will have to first write the FCT minister, who will now direct us to carry out the investigation,” he said.

During an interaction with the NFF President, Mr. Aminu Maigari, Opetunsin said the damage caused by the fire could have been reduced if simple firefighting equipment was installed in the building.

“You need to get hose that members of your staff can easily roll when a fire incident happens. Fire incidents like this can be easily handled before they go out of hand if such equipment is installed in the building,” Opetunsin told Maigari.

The fire incident coincided with Maigari’s resumption to office on Wednesday, which came after he was reinstated to office.

Both Maigari and the Secretary-General of the NFF, Musa Amadu, in separate interviews, dismissed insinuations of possible sabotage and described the incident “as an act of God”.

Maigari said experts would be invited to assess the level of damage caused by the fire.

He said, “We take it as an act of God. We want to thank the firefighters for responding on time.”