Fire guts Lagos State Chief Judge’s chambers
Fire gutted the chambers of Lagos State High Court Chief Judge, Justice Funmilayo Atilade on Wednesday, temporarily paralysing judicial activities within the premises.
The incident which stated at about 8.15 a.m at the CJ courtroom located on the top floor of the old building, happened as a result of a spark from one of the air-conditioning unit in the chambers.
NAN reports that the fire started when one of the cleaners switched on a faulty air-conditioner and left the room.
One of the court registrars, who pleaded anonymity, said the fire started from one of the air-conditioning units in the CJ’s chamber “and before anyone could know about it, it had gone out of control.”
The registrar said he “quickly informed my colleagues in the office and we ran down the stairs to our vehicles which we drove out of the premises.”
Another witness said that the fire was noticed by a security woman popularly called Alhaja, who immediately raised an alarm. Alhaja was reportedly taken to the hospital as a result of the smoke she inhaled before the arrival of the firefighter.
According to reports, the timely intervention of Lagos State Fire Service, who arrived nearly 30minutes after the fire started, saved the entire building from being razed down. Their efforts prevented the fire from spreading to other courtrooms.
A witness said it took the firefighters about one hour to put off the fire, as a result of heavy smoke emitting from the court room.
The courtroom, which was hardly used by the chief judge, was reserved for her anytime she comes to the Lagos Division of the court. Some of the furniture and bookshelves in the CJ’s chamber were partly destroyed as a result of the incident.
The inferno reportedly disrupted activities within the premises, as the gates of the building were locked for about three hours.
