One of the guards told the Speaker of the House, Matthew Kolawole, who visited the scene said they never saw anyone torch the assembly.
By Jeffrey Agbo
Fire has engulfed the Kogi State House of Assembly in Lokoja.
Guards at the assembly said the incident which occurred on Monday took them by surprise.
One of the guards told the Speaker of the House, Matthew Kolawole, who visited the scene said they never saw anyone torch the assembly.
“All we saw was heavy smoke coming out of the complex this morning. By the time we rushed to see what exactly was the problem, the entire assembly was already on fire with everything inside burnt down.
“We then raised an alarm as we shout for help even though the complex is in a lonely place with neighbours far away,” the unnamed guard was quoted by NAN as saying.
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The area most affected by the fire is the assembly gallery, which was completely burnt to ashes.
Kolawole, who spoke to journalists at the assembly complex, expressed shock over the incident.
He also described the incident as “very unfortunate”.
“I’m assuring you that this attack on our complex will not stop the house from performing its duty. We shall dig into its root until the truth is revealed,” he affirmed.
The Speaker said that the House would allow security agencies to investigate the fire incident to ascertain the root cause and level of damage.
Meanwhile, the Kogi State Government has appealed to residents to remain calm over the state House of Assembly that got burnt in the early hours of Monday.
Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, in a statement in Lokoja said that security and technical experts were already working hard to unravel the cause(s) of the inferno, which he claimed had caused significant damage to the complex.
“We urge the general public to be calm, law-abiding and resist the temptation of being lawless as the government is capable of dealing with the likely outcome of the investigations.
“The state government will also make provision for temporary arrangements to ensure legislative business is not completely halted as a result of the unfortunate incident,” he assured.
The commissioner, who described the incident as “very sad”, said that the state government would inform the general public of the findings as they unfolded.