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….Says Commission not ruling out sabotage
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said the heavy inferno that razed down its Southeast Zonal office in Enugu, Enugu State will not affect its operations.
Fire had early Friday morning gutted the main office complex of the commission, completely razing the building from 12.30am till 10 am when it was finally put out by the combined team of the police and men of the Enugu State Fire Service
Speaking with newsmen when he visited the state to ascertain the level of carnage caused by the fire, secretary of the commission, Dr George Ekpungu, said though, there was no reason to suspect sabotage, but such things could not be ruled out until investigations on the true cause if the fire were determined.
Ekpungu, who was led round the burnt building by the EFCC Zonal Commander, Aliyu Nuhu Naibi, said: “It is only somebody who wants to sabotage a system that will know what he’s looking for. We don’t have anything that is spectacular in Enugu that the EFCC is doing that will warrant sabotage. But, I cannot rule out malice or something. That’s why I said I don’t want to say what has not been verified because first, I’m a lawyer and secondly, we are EFCC.
“So, we need to be factual about all the things we talk about. For now, our staff here have not told us about any suspicion of sabotage. We will go with that until those who are investigating the fire come out with their findings”.
He however stated that even if it were to be sabotage, the perpetrators will be disappointed that the EFCC has all its records intact and we will go ahead with our cases.
On the possible cause of huge inferno, Ekpungu said, “From the preliminary investigation, it was a spark from a power surge, for now, that is being considered.
“We cannot at this point in time ascertain the course of the fire. But we’re grateful to God that the critical components of our operations here are safe. Investigations to reveal what the course of the fire is will be done by professionals.
“At least, our investigation records, the armoury, the suspects and every other thing that is critical to us, by dint of luck and by the grace of God, are safe. That is what we can say for now.
“But, as you well know, the fire service and other professionals have the instruments with which to be able to identify the original cause of the fire”.
On why the fire gutted almost every part of the building without quick response, the EFCC secretary said, “It’s pathetic that the fire got this bad. Before speaking with you, the press, I interacted with our men here and asked the question about what reenforced the fire. I think it’s the nature of the building and the components of building materials. It’s an old building.
“I think there was reasonably quick response. A couple of indicators made it impossible for them.
“First, the fire didn’t start at a time that people were readily available. If it wasn’t an organization that has people around at all times,. probably, we would have just come and found a building completely burnt down.
“From the time I was called a few minutes after 1.00am, the fire continued until about 10 am the next day before they could put it out.
“We appreciate the commissioner of police here and the Enugu State Fire Service a great deal. They were on ground to help to fight the fire. It was the depth of the inferno that I think caused damage. I think the response was quite good and rapid”.
Ekpungu also expressed happiness that the chairman, Addulrasheed Bawa’s efforts in digitizing the commission had paid off, as the fire did not affect the operations of the commission despite how huge.
“The press should be able to estimate the cost of damage here. For us, whatever cost that has gone here, we thank God because it would have been a different story, assuming that any of our suspects have had a burn. For us, once a life is preserved, equipment can be replaced. We will suffer a great deal to recover our processes. But once our server is safe, knowing that EFCC is very sophisticated ICT wise.
“That means whatever they have here, we have in the head office. So, we have a way of recovering a lot of things. You know, since the coming on board of Abdulrasheed Bawa, EFCC has been highly digitized. I can assure you that this will not affect our operations. It’s just that if you are going to church or mosque and you have a little tear on your clothe, you won’t be comfortable there until you fix it.
“It is only some of the matters that we have not condensed into soft copies that will be affected, otherwise, our operations continue. However, you can’t a fire of this magnitude and think it will affect nothing. It will affect something such as the admin register, the front office and others”.
