Fire razes office of Lagos State Internal Revenue

Kazeem Ugbodaga A portion of the Lagos State Mnistry of Commerce and Industry at the Secretariat, Alausa in Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria has been gutted by fire.

The LIRS fire was said to have started around 8.45am and razed a room in the office.

Although, the degree of the damage are yet to be ascertained, but the fire was put out about 30 minutes after it started.

Hundreds of workers working in the four-storey building were thrown into confusion as they hurriedly vacated the structure. Thick smoke was noticed in the building, which resulted in panic.

Michael Akindele, general manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA), told BusinessDay that his men received a distress call from the occupants of the building, and raced to the scene.

“The only affected area was the newly renovated office which has not been allocated to any staff; the total span affected by the fire was not more than two metres in the entire office”, he said.

The cause of the fire is presently unknown and officials of the service have yet to issue a statement on the incident.

He said the report of the incidences would be made available to the Office of the Governor before the close of work.