Police have begun investigations into
the fire which gutted the offices of the Nigeria Football Federation in
Abuja on Wednesday morning.
Assistant police commissioner Abubakar
Baba said at the scene of the fire incident, “We have begun
investigations into the fire that broke out at the office of the NFF in
Abuja in the morning (Wednesday).
“We have not made any arrests but we hope to ascertain what caused this fire among other things.”
The NFF president Aminu Maigari who led
an NFF delegation to the Ministry of Sports and to the Senate to brief
officials on the incident told reporters the federation’s activities
would not brought to a halt because of the fire. He said that he had
personally assessed the impact. Continue...
He said, “It is sad but we still have to
be grateful to Almighty Allah. For one, no life was lost, and also, the
impact is such that though a few offices including the General
Secretary’s office were affected, this is not enough to affect any of
our programmes.
“All that we need to get the Falconets
going in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and to prepare the Super Eagles
for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and the U-17 boys for
their African U-17 Championship qualifiers are intact.”
The PUNCH learnt that the office of the NFF general secretary, Musa Amadu was burnt.
But Amadu has insisted that it was not as bad as imagined despite the fears raised by those who witnessed the incident.
He said, “This incident is unfortunate,
but we remain steadfast and focused on our programmes. As the NFF
President stated earlier, our national teams’ programmes will not suffer
in any way as a result of this fire incident.
“We suspect no foul play, and I can tell
you that the accounts department was not affected at all. All our
financial documents are intact, and the trophies that we have won are
also intact.”
Followers of the events at the football
federation in the last one month were quick to raise suspicions soon
after the fire stated. The NFF members have narrated how it started
while dismissing the sabotage theory. The police who visited the scene
on Wednesday and fire experts should be able to determine the likely
cause.
The federation has been engulfed in
power tussle since the Super Eagles were eliminated in the second round
of the Brazil 2014 World Cup. Maigari only returned to office on Monday
after FIFA rejected his purported impeachment. A few members of the NFF
board are insisting that Maigari stands impeachment despite the stand of
FIFA and the Nigerian government.
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