The Supreme Court of Nigeria has opened up on documents affected by a fire outbreak that gutted a part of the apex court complex located in the Central District of Abuja on Monday.
The apex court assured that documents affected by the fire incident are well-domiciled in the e-library of the Supreme Court.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Festus Akande, Supreme Court’s Spokesperson, as saying each chamber of the Supreme Court has an e-library.
Akande stressed that the burnt documents can be replenished with ease, adding that the incident has nothing to do with the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
“It has nothing to do with the Presidential Election Petition, as people are saying outside. Such issues as presidential election matters are not discussed in the chamber, but inside the court,” Akande said.
Recall a fire outbreak torched a part of the premises of the Supreme Court Complex on Monday.
The cause of the fire outbreak was yet to be ascertained at the time of filing this report.
“What was destroyed in that chamber were books, stationery, and other computer gadgets.
“We have an e-library for all the burnt documents. We can still replenish the burnt documents. Each chamber has an e-library,” Akande said.
Speaking further the Supreme Court’s Spokesperson said what happened was just a normal electrical problem that resulted in the fire outbreak.
“Our staff were able to effectively douse it with the use of the fire extinguishers that are strategically placed in the Supreme Court.
“The floor has a lot of fire extinguishers and they were able to combat it effectively and out it off. So, it could not even spread far before the firemen came to give their own support.
“That was all; that was what happened; nothing more. So, we thank God that no lives were lost; that is it,” Akande said.
Speaking further, the Supreme Court’s Spokesperson said: “We have the soft copies of all the documents that are there.
“We have e-library here. Those are just hard copies; the soft copies are still there. So, we can still replenish the burnt documents”.
Meanwhile, Akande refused to release the identity of the owner of the chambers that got burnt.
However, TNG gathered that the three offices touched included the chamber of Justice Mohammed Saulawa.
Also speaking on the Supreme Court fire incident, the Spokesperson of the Federal Fire Service (FFS), Mr Abram Paul disclosed that the fire began at about 7.30 a.m.
He said that firefighters were quickly deployed to the scene immediately after the distress call was received.
“As I speak to you now, the fire is under control; the atmosphere is calm and everybody is going about his or her official duties.
“Thank God that there was no casualty, but a couple of files were said to have been lost to the inferno.
“Nothing more than that. Our men are on top of the situation,” he said.
He confirmed an investigation was ongoing to unravel the cause of the fire incident.
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