Panic, fire scare as CBN headquarters Abuja engulf in smoke

There was confusion at the headquarters of the Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday following a fire incident at the generator house.

The fire was said to have started few minutes after 6pm and lasted for about 30 minutes before it was put out.

Our correspondent, who visited the headquarters of the CBN, observed that men of the Federal Fire Service were at the scene to ensure that the fire did not get out of control.

Apart from the Federal Fire Service that deployed two firefighting trucks in the scene of the incident, a truck belonging to Julius Berger was also sited at the apex bank’s headquarters.

The Assistant Comptroller, FFS, Bello Atayin, who spoke with our correspondent, said the fire started at the generator house.

He attributed the fire incident to a technical fault at the generator house, adding that the service was quick in putting it out before it got out of control.

Atayin said, “The fire incident started at the generator house on the west side of the building and we were alerted.

“It was a minor fire incident and it has been put under control.”

When contacted, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, however, said there was no fire at the apex bank.

In a statement issued on Tuesday night, he said, “Reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s head office building is on fire are false.

“Passers-by, who saw a pall of exhaust from the generator house far away from the building apparently mistook the exhaust for fire smoke.

“The CBN maintains a total security system that triggers safety alarms in the presence of smoke and so all fire engines and personnel received the alert only to discover that it was an unusual pall of exhaust.

“The affected generator has been rested and normal work has been uninterrupted, while the engineers are working to rectify the issues with the generator.

“We hereby assure the general public that there has been no fire at our building.”