The management and staff of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) have been thrown into deep mourning over the death of four staff members to the fire incident at Afriland Towers located on Broad Street, Lagos, on Tuesday.

The deceased workers were working at one of the two FIRS offices housed on the sixth and seventh floors of the towers when the tragedy struck.

A statement by the Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS chairman, Dare Adekanmbi, gave the names of the affected employees as Mrs Ekelikhostse George (Assistant Director), Mr David Sunday-Jatto (assistant director), Mrs Nkem Onyemelukwe (senior manager) and Mr Peter Ifaranmaye (manager).

The statement said, “It is with a heavy heart that FIRS announces the tragic loss of four of its staff members during the fire incident at Afriland Towers, Broad Street, Lagos, on Tuesday. FIRS is one of the tenants occupying the towers with our Medium Tax Audit and Onikan Emerging Tax Office housed on the sixth and seventh floors. Our security and safety officials quickly mobilized and contacted the fire service as soon as they were alerted. On getting to the scene, thick dark smoke was already billowing out of the building.

 “The management and entire staff are in deep shock and sorrow over the development. They offer their condolences to the grieving families and are in touch with the families of our departed colleagues whose commitment to excellence, dedication and professionalism were never in doubt. We will provide all the necessary support at this trying time. 

 “We are working in collaboration with all relevant agencies in Lagos to get to the root cause of the unfortunate incident. While this is going on, we will be reviewing safety measures across FIRS offices in both rented and owned buildings nationwide.’’