No casualties as fire razes section of Rivers government secretariat

A section of the Rivers state government secretariat in Port Harcourt has been razed by fire.

While the cause of the fire was not immediately known, TheCable understands that the affected section, the podium block, houses Pension state board.

Honour Sirawoo, the permanent secretary of the ministry of information, confirmed the incident.

Sirawoo said firefighters from both the state and Federal Fire Services (FFS) are currently at the scene, working hard to put out the flames.

He, however, said it is not yet clear if there are any casualties.

Siminalayi Fubara, the governor of Rivers, recently sacked the Pensions Board inaugurated by  Ibok-Ete Ibas, the immediate former sole administrator of the state, on September 12.

The office of the accountant-general was asked to take over the board’s responsibilities until a new one was formed.

Inyingi Brown, head of Rivers state civil service, said no casualty was recorded in the incident, adding that preliminary reports suggest the fire may have been as a result of electrical faults.

“We were informed that there was a fire incident at the right wing, ground floor of Podium Block and we immediately made calls to the River State Fire Service, and they responded promptly,” she said.

“We also called other partners of the state, such as Renaissance, Federal Fire Service, and the military, who all promptly sent their fire trucks. It was a combined effort, and as we speak, you can see that the fire has been contained,” she stated.

“We thank God, and we thank His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, for being proactive in rehabilitating the fire service before this time. If not for his investment in the fire service, this situation would have been worse.”