Probe frequent fire incidents in federal govt establishments

The recurrent incidents of fire outbreaks in some federal government’s establishment in Abuja especially in the wake of the current lockdown are becoming worrisome and call for urgent. In the space of 10 days, there have been three major fire incidents in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and another one in Jos, Plateau. The offices […]

The recurrent incidents of fire outbreaks in some federal government’s establishment in Abuja especially in the wake of the current lockdown are becoming worrisome and call for urgent.

In the space of 10 days, there have been three major fire incidents in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and another one in Jos, Plateau.

The offices of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Corporate Affairs Commission and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja, as well as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) branch in Jos have all been gutted by fire.

The mysterious manner and quick successions in which these fire incidents occurred have raised concerns in the public space.

On April 8, fire broke out at the Treasury House , a building housing the AGF’s office and exactly a week after there was another fire outbreak at the headquarters of the Corporate Affairs Commission.

More troubling was the fire incident that happened at the Independent National Electoral Commission’s office in Abuja.

While many have been linking the fire incidents to a ploy by some government officials to embezzle funds donated to the country to tackle the outbreak of Coronavirus, others have claimed that the fire incidents were deliberately caused to hide some top secrets by persons in high positions in the country.

Indeed more than a few Nigerians have refused to accept that the fire outbreaks were caused by natural events – without the input of any individual.

Sharing their views across various social media platforms, Nigerians said they could not trust government officials especially going by antecedents of the past where such incidents were deliberately orchestrated to cover up corrupt and criminal acts.

You will not be quick to blame Nigerians for attributing sinister motives to the fire incidents.

The fire incident at the Treasury House should be of concern given the fact that the office houses the treasury of the nation.

It also houses the database of financial transactions of the country, thus, anything untoward happening in the place should be of concern to us.

Although, officials came to say that no vital document was loss during the inferno, there is need to probe that particular fire incident which happened while the lockdown was this in place.

Could it be that some persons were behind it? We really need to know.

In the same vein, the fire incident at the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is equally of concern to Nigerians given its significant role as far as the nation’s electoral process is concerned.

INEC houses the data regarding the election in the country. While some of the litigations trailing election conducted have been concluded up to the Supreme Court, a number of other cases are still in court.

As such, whenever anyone hears about a fire outbreak at INEC’s office, it sparks justifiable suspicion of some mischief by some people.

There are concerns that some people could have orchestrated it to achieve their selfish agenda.

Although, officials of INEC Have on their parts come out to say that only photocopiers and some few things were destroyed by the fire, there is however need for a thorough probe into that particular fire incident.

The fire at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) office is thing another incident which must not be swept under the carpet given the fact that the office also houses vital database for the country as it regards registrations.

Hence, the CAC’s inferno must be equally probed alongside the others.

While Nigerians were still in quandary over fire incidents in Abuja, news broke again that the wild fire just like COVID-19 has spread to Jos, Plateau State.

This time around, a branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in Plateau State was involved in the fire incident.

The apex bank announced on its Twitter account that its branch in Jos, Plateau’s capital city, witnessed a minor fire outbreak that was promptly contained.

To me, this is one fire too many involving important federal institutions and as such, the federal government must launch a full probe into these incidents and make its findings public. Proactive steps should also be take to avert any further fire incident in the country.

Onogwu Reuben writes in from Abuja