It was a battery explosion that gutted 16 others at the battery room of the Federal Ministry of Finance and National Planning that billowed smoke and gave an impression of a huge fire incident, sundry official sources are claiming in Abuja.
The Federal Ministry of Finance said the incident that occurred at its headquarters located in the Central Business District of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) happened on the corridor in the basement of the ministry’s building and that it only affected an isolated battery pack.
“The Federal Ministry of Finance HQ is not on fire as reported on social media. Rather, there was an incident on the corridor in the basement involving an isolated battery Pack.
“It was quickly put out by the security personnel on duty,” the ministry said in a tweet on its official Twitter handle.
The Federal Fire Service (FFS) disclosed that the huge smoke emanating from the Federal Ministry of Finance was caused by a spark on inverter batteries.
The FFS Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Paul Abraham, said: “To firefighters, there could be a smoke without fire but to civilians, every smoke is caused by fire”.
He said that when the service received a report of the fire outbreak, it deployed a team to the ministry to put the fire under control.
“We got the call at about 7 a.m. and immediately sent our men from three stations – Garki, Federal Secretariat and Wuse.
“The situation is totally under control and did not disturb the business of the day,’’ he said.
Spokesman for the Ministry, Mr Olajide Oshundun, also confirmed that it was only the battery room in the ministry that was affected.
He told newsmen at the ministry that the fire emanated from an exploded battery which affected16 other batteries.
“Only the battery room compartment at the basement of the ministry was affected; the fire did not affect any other part of the ministry
“Necessary alarm was raised and the fire was put under control in about 20 minutes later,’’ Oshundu said.