Government House Catches Fire in Abakaliki, Ebonyi

 

A section of the office of the Special Assistant to Ebonyi State Governor on Petroleum Products pricing and Distribution located at the government house, Abakaliki was on Friday gutted by fire, according to Premium Times.

The fire was, however, brought under control by some staff on duty who used the available fire extinguishers to quench the fire before it could do more damage.

A drama ensued between the State Fire Service officers and some Government House workers as the exit gate was shut against them when the government House workers insisted they should not take away the fire extinguishers as directed by leader of the team.

It took the intervention of a senior Accountant at the Government House for the gate to be opened.

A staff, Sunday Nweze, who used the available fire fighting facilities to extinguish the fire explained the squabble.

He said:“We were here at the gate when people started shouting fire! Fire! And running around confused and aimlessly”

“When I got there, I saw that fire had gutted a section of the office of the SA on Petroleum. I know how to operate the fire extinguishers, because I was trained on fire fighting by one a Senior Fire Man (SFM), Mr Benjamin Igbota

“I am a gate man and I work in the office of the Principal Secretary. When the fire service personnel came, they started shouting on me as if they did not like my quenching the fire”.

“They wanted to carry the fire extinguishers cylinders so I said no you shouldn’t do that”.

The Chief Fire Officer in charge of Government House, Owo James, in his own narration explained that when his team arrived, the fire was already under control.