Fire outbreak curtailed at Lagos branch of FCMB

The Adetokunbo Ademola branch of First City Monument Bank Plc on Victoria Island in Lagos State opened to customers on Monday and full banking activities were offered.
This is coming after last weekend’s minor fire incident, which the Lagos State Fire Service immediately checked.
The incident, which occurred in the evening of Saturday, was confirmed to have been caused by a power surge that affected an unused room and a part of an open space used for in-house training on the first floor but without any damage to other important items within the office structure and facilities in the premises.
A visit to the branch on Monday showed that activities were in full swing as customers were seen transacting their businesses, while staff of the bank attended to them.
Technicians were also seen carrying out renovation work on the touched area.
Officers and men from the Lagos State Fire Service were reported to have stepped in immediately they were alerted about smoke in the building from a locked office.
They were supported by staff of the bank who arrived the scene immediately to ensure that there was no damage. Except for damaged furniture, no technical or structural component of the office was lost.
Speaking on the development, the Divisional Head, Human Resources and Change Management of FCMB, Felicia Obozuwa, said: “We are glad that the incident was promptly curtailed and the branch also opened immediately to service customers.
“The bank is planning strategic improvements to ensure such an incident does not happen again here or any of our branches.”
Corroborating this, a staff of the bank, who gave his name as Chris, said that all was done over the weekend to ensure that the electric wiring, ICT equipment, ATMs and other facilities were up for use before Monday.
The Banking Hall, first and second floors, which house Transaction Banking and Corporate Banking, are also in use as they were not affected in any way.
The Private Banking Suite and the space occupied by the branch’s sales staff were also not affected and customers as well as staff were sighted in these areas carrying out their transactions and duties unhindered.
FCMB is a full service banking group with the vision “to be the premier financial services group of African origin.”
From its early origins in investment banking as City Securities Limited in 1977, the bank has evolved to emerge as one of the leading financial services institutions in Nigeria and one of the top eight lenders in the country.
The bank recently transformed into a Holding Company under the name: FCMB Group Plc.