… FG sets up probe panel
By Louis Ibah
The administrative building of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in Lagos was early yesterday razed by fire.
The cause of the inferno, which started in the early hours of Tuesday was, however, yet to be ascertained but fire fighters from FAAN and Lagos State Fire Service battled for hours to curtail the unfortunate incident, which also created a gridlock as motorists and other commuters found it difficult to pass through roads leading into and out of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
Most passengers who had early flights while the inferno raged had to abandon vehicles that brought them to trek to the terminal buildings as a result of the traffic gridlock that built up as fire fighters fought to salvage the situation.
When Daily Sun visited the site of the incident, there was heavy presence of police and other security agencies trying to maintain law and order, while fire fighters battled to curtail the inferno. Workers were, however, evacuated to safety even as access into the building was blocked to anyone except rescue workers.
Spokeswoman for FAAN, Ms. Henrieta Yakubu, in a statement said a fire incident at the headquarters in Lagos on April 11, 2017, affecting some offices, was being investigated to find out the cause of the outbreak.
Meanwhile, a panel of investigators compromising officials of the Department of State Security (DSS); the Nigerian Police Force; Accident and Investigation Bureau (AIB); and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has been set up to probe the cause of the fire.
Managing Director/CEO of FAAN, Mr. Saleh Dunoma, stated this while addressing journalists after a tour of the burnt facility. “An investigation panel has been set up comprising the Police, DSS, AIB, NCAA has been set up to look into the immediate and remote cause of this unfortunate fire incident and how to stop future occurrences,” said Dunoma. “Officials from FAAN fire fighting, safety, security and legal departments will also serve in that investigation panel. The panel has two weeks to submit its report,” he added.
He however explained that the Police Airports Command had commence an independent investigation of the fire incident different from the one to be conducted by the panel comprising the DSS, AIB, NCAA, and FAAN. “The airport police have started their own investigation parallel from this panel. They have the right to investigate. I am appearing before them this evening,” Dunoma said.
Dunoma said although only the buildings housing the audit, public affairs and commercial departments had been badly damaged by the fire that started about 9am on Tuesday, the entire headquarter building however had to be shut down or sealed to allow the commencement of Police investigations. He however assured that by Wednesday the facility would be reopened for normal administrative business.
He however said the agency plans to construct a new headquarters and was on the verge of hiring consultants to select winners for bids for the architectural design of the new FAAN headquarter building.