08 March 2014, Lagos – An early morning inferno has gutted a section of the National Control Centre of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, Osogbo which serves Osun, Oyo, Kwara and Ekiti States in the provision of electricity supply.
The incident which occurred at about 2.00am caused serious confusion in the town as residents of the area ran to safety before the fire was eventually be put off at 9.00am.
Sources revealed that the inferno was as a result of technical hitch in the centre which covers a large portion of land along new Ikirun road, Osogbo.
It was said that some residents of the area moved to other parts of the town in the midnight when all efforts to put the fire out could not yield positive results.
However residents who fled the area, said they took the decision for their safety and that of their family members as they had earlier thought that it was a bomb blast.
The state Deputy Governor, Mrs Grace Tomori who visited the scene of the incident at 3.30am allayed the fear of the people of the state that the incident was caused by members of the Boko Haram sect, saying that the state government would investigate the cause of the ugly incident.
It was gathered that it took the combine efforts of the officers of the State Fire Service, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp and the Nigerian Army before the fire could be put out.
The state Fire Service, it was learnt earlier complained of paucity of water, hence the delay in their efforts at controlling the fire.
Efforts to speak with officers of the centre proved abortive, but it was reliably gathered that property worth millions of naira were destroyed by the inferno which lasted for several hours.
As at the time of filing this report, officers of both the Nigerian Police and Nigerian Army were strategically stationed at the centre mounting surveillance.
The incident has however caused total black out in most parts of the state, and it was learnt that the situation may persists until necessary repairs are made or the damaged items replaced by the PHCN.
– This Day