The Head, National Office (HNO) of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Patrick Areghan, says only the second and third floors of the organisation’s Yaba office had minimal damage during Wednesday morning’s fire outbreak.

Mr Areghan told journalists he received a call about the incident and quickly rushed to the office, where he met emergency responders.

“Both the state and federal levels and even the emergency safety people were all there. And I must say kudos to them.

“For WAEC, too, we have sophisticated state-of-the-art firefighting equipment, and they were able to deploy all that was needed to put out the fire in record time,” he said.

Mr Areghan stated that no casualty was recorded in the incident.

“You know it is a building of 12 floors, and the fire started from the second floor, and it is only the second and third floors that recorded some minimal damage,” he said.

Mr Areghan said with a building of that magnitude, it would be difficult to have a clearance within a twinkle of an eye because of the billowing smoke.

The HNO said the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained, but he was awaiting a technical report from the fire service team.

He reassured that certificates and other documents in its custody were not affected by the fire.

According to him, the fire did not reach the floor where the documents are kept, adding that even if it had happened there, nothing would have gone wrong because of the council’s ability to respond swiftly.

“We just need a little time to clear that so that people can settle down and get back to work,” he added.

(NAN)