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.
