The fire reportedly started at about 6am from a section of the building adjacent to the office of the Commissioner for Higher Education, Barr. Washington Osifo.
More than ten offices at the upper floor of the building were razed.
The affected building was said to be warehousing vital documents including certificates dating back to the 1960s.
Scripts of the recently conducted primary school leaving certificate examination were reportedly consumed by the inferno.
Eyewitnesses said men of the Edo State Fire Service came but could not put out the fire because the water they came with was not enough.
The witnesses said before the fire service returned, the fire had spread to other offices.
When The Nation visited, workers in the ministry were seen running around with buckets of water while others were wailing.
Some workers who resumed for duty sat under trees discussing the incident.
Osifo said sensitive documents that dated back to the 1960s were destroyed in the fire.
He said, “I was called in the early hours that there was a fire here. I came here and saw the flames. I contacted the fire services and we tried to battle the fire. The offices housing sensitive materials dating back to Midwest Region are gone. We cannot trace such documents again. That is a disaster.
“We will not want to make any sweeping statement. The panel of inquiry to be set-up will reveal what happened. We succeeded in stopping the fire from spreading to other places.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com