How February Harmattan Caused Fire In Over 40 Buildings In Lagos

Mr. Seye Oladejo the Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations has disclosed that no fewer than 40 buildings in Lagos state have experienced fire outbreak, following the sudden harmattan in February 2017.

The commissioner attributed the escalation in fire incidence to the return of harmattan weather to the state.

“We noticed the escalation of fire incidents since Friday when we had a sudden change in weather as harmattan suddenly came back.

“Since then, we have recorded about 40 fire incidents in different parts of the state.

“Fire incidents are mainly caused either by accident or sheer carelessness on the part of our people,’’ the commissioner said.

He appealed to Lagos residents to be more careful, especially as regards the storing of petroleum products in homes.

“As a government, we will continue to respond but we will be happy if the incidents are reduced to the barest minimum; our duty is to secure lives and property of our citizenry,” he said.

The Harmattan is a season in the West African subcontinent, which occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara Desert over West Africa into the Gulf of Guinea, in Nigeria the harmattan stopped in mid January 2017 and resumed in mid February.