Fire damages Nigeria Customs office in Apapa

A fire damaged the Nigeria Customs Service Western Marine Command office in Apapa, Lagos, on Monday, destroying property worth millions of naira, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. The fire began at about 10:23 a.m. after an electrical surge in the conference room, the report said.

It then spread to other parts of the building. Officers at the command attempted to contain the blaze before officials of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service arrived at about 10:45 a.m. to assist with firefighting operations.

The source material did not report any casualty. The incident occurred shortly after Timothy Jonah resumed as deputy comptroller of the command. Jonah described the fire as unfortunate and said the command would establish a committee to investigate its cause.

“I just resumed duty to take over, only to witness this fire outbreak,” Jonah said. He commended the officers who responded and the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service for their efforts. Jonah said the command would strengthen its safety measures to reduce the possibility of a similar incident.

The investigation is expected to examine the electrical surge and the circumstances in which the fire spread through the premises. The Apapa incident follows a fire at the Bono Energy Terminal in the Coconut area of Olodi Apapa about three months earlier. That July 3 incident involved a five-million-litre Automotive Gas Oil storage tank.

The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service said the earlier fire was contained before reaching nearby petroleum storage facilities. It reported no casualty, while the cause remained under investigation. The Customs command did not provide an estimate of the damage beyond describing the destroyed property as worth millions of naira.