JUST IN: Fire guts Rivers govt secretariat

A section of the eight-storey Podium Block of the Rivers State Secretariat Complex was on Monday engulfed in flames.

The Nigerian Tribune gathered that the incident occurred at the close of work.

Some civil servants who work in the block, when contacted for comments, said they had already left the office and were unaware of the incident.

Details of the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage remain sketchy as of the time of filing this report.

However, officials of the recently rehabilitated State Fire Service were on the ground battling the fire at the time of this report.

Information gathered indicated that the fire started on the fourth floor of the building, which houses the Ministries of Information and Communications, Environment, and others.

The Podium Block is one of the five high-rise buildings that make up the complex.

The structures were constructed during the military administration of Alfred Diete-Spiff.