•AFCON, U-17 World Cup trophies rescued
•Maigari, NFF Accountant rule out sabotage
•No money was burnt, says Accountant-General
The Glasshouse Secretariat of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) yesterday was gutted by fire. The fire, which started at about 9.30 am, started from the third floor office of the accountant.
The inferno, which destroyed all the documents in the accountant’s office, extended to the office of the General Secretary, also destroying most of the documents in the office and all the offices on the left wing of the building.
The General Secretary Musa Amadu, who was on ground to salvage some of the documents in his office, said they were able to rescue most of the trophies that the national teams most especially the African Nations Cup (AFCON) won by the Super Eagles last year in South Africa.
He said: “It is an unfortunate incident.The fire started as early as 9.30am, and before the fire service men could come, the damage had been done. But we thank God no life was lost, we were able salvage the AFCON trophy that the Super Eagles won last year, the U-17 World Cup that we won in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last year among others.
“ I think the fire may have started from a power surge that happened at about that time. We tried as much as we could, but it is quite unfortunate.
“As I have assured you, we are going to reassess those things that were burnt, and those missing. But we want to assure Nigerians that the jobs of the Federation workers would not be affected in any way, we would continue our normal duties until we get to the root of the whole thing. I once again assure all Nigerians that we would get over all these” he said.
In his reaction on arrival at the Secretariat at about 11.45 am, NFF President Aminu Maigari gave thanks to God that no life was lost. “We are grateful to God Almighty that no life was lost in the fire incident. We are optimistic that we would get over this incident, and I am sure the security agencies would step in immediately to investigate what happened. But, it is rather unfortunate. We are grateful to Almighty God that no life was lost”.
On the immediate decision that the Board of the Federation would take, Musa said:“It is not a matter of immediate decision, it is for us to sit down as a Board and invite the security agencies to come and see things themselves and investigate it further for us to know the next step to take to see that the Federation’s activities return back to normal.
“But, we as a board, we have to sit down and know the steps to be taken”.
He insisted that the incident would not affect the Super Eagles as they prepare to take on their Congolese and South African counterparts in the AFCON 2015 qualifier
The Falconets are doing well, and they are poised to continue to do the country proud, the Super Eagles are beginning their AFCON trophy defense next month. We here are supporting them morally, financially and with prayers. We are optimistic that this would not affect them in any way”.
Maigari appealed to the board members to come together to salvage the ugly situation that is facing the Federation now, for the interest of the game and the country.
Maigari ruled out sabotage in the incident, saying it is purely an act of God. “I don’t want to blame anybody for this. Let us take it as an act of God until the security agencies complete their job. I think that would facilitate our action”.
Also, the NFF’s Accountant, Andelkin Christopher, ruled out any sabotage whatsoever, saying it is all a matter of co-incidence.
“Look at it from this angle, the fire started from my office. I just resumed in the office only last three weeks. In the actual sense, no one has access to my office unless the cleaners and no one puts on any of the appliances until I come to the office. So, the incident would have to be properly investigated before we jump to conclusions”.
The leader of the Fire Service Agency, Julius.O. Opetunsin, said the cause of the inferno cannot be determined now, until a full investigation has been carried out on the incident. “You cannot determine the cause of the fire now, until a full investigation has been completed.
“This would be after sometime, because we cannot just jump to conclusions now. What I can tell you is that we were able to put off the fire which started at the left wing of the building. Due to our quick response, we were able to salvage a lot of things”.
This, he said, was as a result of their quick response to the NFF’s distress call.
“I got the call at exactly 9.58 am. I dispatched my men at Games village, Asokoro and another back up to the building. They got here at 10.15am, and before then, we had officials from the Federal fire service that were already on ground. It was a combined force between the FCT fire services and the federal fire services.”
He said if the NFF needs any investigation, they would have to write to the FCT Minister who would order it. He did not fail to blame the deficiency in the building being responsible for the inability to salvage the situation before the arrival of the firemen.
“It is quite unfortunate that in a building like this, there are no fire extinguishers and hose reels. If there were hose reels here, the staff would have been able to salvage the fire before our arrival. It is just for them to roll it out and combat the fire in whatever offices affected,” he said.
The representative of the Accountant General of the Federation, who is also a Deputy Director, claimed that nothing serious happened.
His words: “We came to assess the situation here (NFF Secretariat) as we have been sent by the Accountant General of the Federation. I could see that nothing serious happened here. I was told that no life was lost and no money was lost too, so nothing happened.”
