The three-story Faculty of Sciences building of the University of Lagos went up in flames in the early hours of Tuesday morning, destroying the Mathematics and Physics departments on the second and third floors, media reports confirmed.
No lives were lost in the fire incident, which started at about 6 a.m., but academic materials, furnishings and personal belongings were lost in the fire.
Fire fighters from UNILAG’s Fire Service, the Federal Fire Service, Lagos State Fire Service and the Union Bank of Nigeria Fire and Rescue Unit combated the fire and put it out at about 9:55 a.m.
Students and lecturers were seen at the fire site desperately trying to salvage their documents and belongings from being destroyed by the fire.
A staff of the Department of Physics, Mrs. Tina Elechi, was emotional as she told reporters of her loss.
“I am finished. My documents are all gone. The original National Diploma certificate I kept in that office has been consumed by the fire. I only brought it here in order to make photocopies to forward to the university authorities and fast-track my promotion,” she said.
“The N30,000 contribution kept with me for the purpose of organising a send-off for an outgoing member of staff has also been burnt in that office.”
Sheba Michael, a final year student at the Department of Physics, called the fire “unfortunate”.
“I will definitely be starting my project work all over again as my preliminary work has been consumed by the fire.
“The university examination is starting next week and I’m not sure if the two affected departments would begin the exams with the others because as you can see almost everything is gone.”
A firefighter with the UNILAG Fire Service, Mr. Majuka Patrick, did not speculate as to the cause of the fire, but said he was thankful it had not spread to the Department of Chemistry.
“It would have been a lot disastrous because a lot of explosive chemical materials being used for practical are in that department.
“These chemicals would have aided the fire and explosions, which might have affected the whole building.”
Information Officer of the university, Mrs. Adejoke Alaga, “assures the students that the incident will not disrupt academic activities especially the forthcoming examinations.”
She thanks the fire services for their combined efforts, but also declined to reveal the cause of the fire.
