By Emmanuel Awari-Jalingo
The Secretariat of Wukari Local Government Council in Taraba State has been gutted by fire.
Confirming the incident, the Chairman of the Council, Bala Usaini, said the inferno started at about 6pm on Friday January 9th, 2026 when Security officers on duty at the Secretariat alerted him of the outbreak of the fire.
He said that in spite of all frantic efforts to contain the fire, it raged on for almost three hours destroying seven key administrative departments, sparing only the office of the Chairman and leading to lost of vital documents and infrastructures.
“Although the actual cause of the inferno was yet to be ascertained, both the local government and the state government were working together to ensure that administrative services continued with minimal disruption.
“Despite concerted efforts by men of the fire service, the inferno, which started around 6 p.m., escalated for approximately three hours and destroyed seven key administrative departments,” the chairman recounted.
He added that although his office was not affected, but that vital government documents were lost in the incident.
“The Chairman’s block was spared from the destruction, but vital government documents and significant infrastructure have been destroyed.
“While we are collaborating with the state government to ensure all administrative services continue with minimal disruption, a full investigation has been launched to ascertain the cause of the fire,” he said.
Useni urged residents of Wukari LGA to remain calm as modalities were being put in place to ensure the full restoration of administrative activities.
He assured that he is working closely with the State Government to ensure that all services continue with minimal disruption
and expressed deep regret over the fire.