Data and equipment were lost in a fire that broke out at the data centre of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Wuse 2, Abuja, on Monday night.

In a statement released on its Facebook page, the commission said the inferno “almost razed down” the building.

“The fire started at the former newsroom which now serves as storage for ICT equipment that were retrieved from the Commission former offices scattered across the Capital City,” the statement read.

“The former newsroom is domiciled in the two Storey Costa Hall which was commissioned by Dr. Antonio Maria Costa on 13th November 2007. The building currently houses the Data Centre and the Combined Inter-Agency Task Force.”

Men of the Federal Fire Service led by Melone Onyekachi, sector commander, were able to successfully curtail the extent of the fire after receiving a call from Kayode Oyetunde, incident duty officer of the commission, at 7:10pm.
Speaking on the cause of the fire, Onyekachi said, “Our duty is to put off the fire; that we have successfully done. There is another department that will come and ascertain the cause of the fire.”

According to the statement, two officers attached to the Combined Inter-Agency Task Force were rescued from the fire and the extent of damage will be ascertained after stock taking.

“The Commission’s Chief Security Officer, CSO, Nasir Abdullahi, DSP immediately after the fire was curtailed, went to the Maitama Police Station to incident the fire outbreak. Policemen from the Station who followed him to the Commission, however, promised to return for further enquiry.”

While receiving members of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Friday, President Muhammadu Buhari had said that he has asked the commission to account for all the money it has recovered.
The data centre, which is where the fire started from, is where the EFCC is likely to have records of all its arrests and recoveries.