Fire guts Customs office in Lagos

A fire on Monday gutted the Nigeria Customs Service Western Marine Command office in Apapa, Lagos, destroying property worth millions of naira.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the fire started at about 10:23 a.m. after an electrical surge in the conference room and spread to other parts of the building.

Officers at the command tried to put out the fire before officials of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service arrived at about 10:45 a.m. to help contain it.

The incident happened shortly after Timothy Jonah resumed as the Deputy Comptroller of the command.

Mr Jonah, who described the incident as unfortunate, said the command would investigate the cause of the fire.

“I just resumed duty to take over, only to witness this fire outbreak.

“Every challenge, though negative, is an opportunity to strengthen our operations. In the meantime, we will set up a committee to investigate the cause of the fire,” he stated.

He commended the officers who responded to the fire and the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service for their efforts.

Mr Jonah also said the command would strengthen its safety measures to prevent a similar incident.

The fire came about three months after a fire broke out at the Bono Energy Terminal in the Coconut area of Olodi Apapa.

The July 3 incident involved a five-million-litre Automotive Gas Oil storage tank. The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service said the fire was contained before it spread to nearby petroleum storage facilities.

No casualty was recorded, while the cause of the fire was still under investigation, the agency said.