Photos: Fire Guts National Assembly In Abuja

A store in the House of Representatives section of the National Assembly complex in Abuja on Thursday caught fire leaving documents destroyed.

According to the Punch, passers-by raised an alarm after noticing smoke coming out from the second floor of the New Building, House of Reps Wing of the Complex.

The section which was engulfed by fire includes the wing that houses lawmakers’ offices, committee rooms, banks and other private concerns.

Burnt documents from fire scene at store wing of the House of Assembly

The Director of Information, National Assembly, Rawlings Agada, in a statement on Thursday titled ‘Reported Fire Incident at the House of Representatives New Wing Today, Thursday, 11th August, 2022, in the National Assembly Complex,’ confirmed the incident.

The statement read, “There was a fire incident this evening in one of the janitors located on the 2nd Floor, Room 227 in the New Wing of the House of Representatives, suspected to have resulted from an electrical fault which was noticed by one of the staff (members attached) to the Clerk, House of Representatives, who promptly alerted the Federal Fire Service unit stationed in the National Assembly Complex.”

Firefighters come to rescue

Firefighters from the Federal Fire Service, which has a permanent office on the premises, as well as security operatives rushed to the office and later succeeded in putting out the fire.

Fire Fighter at fire scene at store wing of House of Assembly

Agada, in a statement, noted that the firefighters with the assistance of staff on duty broke into the affected office, putting off the fire.

He added that the Fire Service and the Estate and Works Directorate will restore normalcy to the New Wing housing after due assessment, maintaining investigations will be carried out.

Agada, after commending the prompt response/ actions of the first responders, particularly National Assembly staff (members) and the Fire Service unit in helping to curtain the fire outbreak attached photos of the scene, which showed burnt documents, furniture and other items.

The federal parliament has recorded fire outbreaks of varying degrees in the past.