Fire fighting trucks absent as fire guts Niger State Government House

The Office of the Permanent Secretary in the Niger State Government House was gutted by a fire which resulted from electrical fault.
The office was under renovation when the fire outbreak started at 12:30pm.
It took more than 15 minutes before men from the state Fire Service arrived to put the situation under control.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that workers in the Government House were seen running for their lives before personnel from the state fire service arrived with three fire fighting trucks.
NAN reports that office equipment, valuables and sensitive documents were destroyed in the fire incident.
NAN observed that there was no fire fighting truck at the state government house.
Malam Salihu Bello, the Deputy Controller in  the Niger State Fire Service, who spoke to newsmen at the scene of the fire, said the quick intervention of the fire fighters helped in reducing the damages.
Bello said lack of fire fighting truck in the Government House was not intentional as arrangement were on to station a fire fighting truck in there.
“We have our personal stationed here to respond to any emergency,” he said.
Bello said the fire fighting trucks used to put out the fire were brought from the various fire service stations in Minna.
Meanwhile, Mary Berje, the Chief Press Secretary to the Niger State Governor, said the fire fighting trucks in the Government House were taken out for routine maintenance.