Police begin probe, Maigari plays down fire incident

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.