By Amarachi Jim-Nwoko
ABUJA (PRECISE POST) – Smoke rising from a kitchen minutes after a Senate committee session could have spelled disaster at the National Assembly Tuesday but two lawmakers moved first.
The fire broke out in the kitchen section of Hearing Room 107, Senate wing, shortly after the Senate Committee on NDDC ended the screening of Dr. Zainab Marwa, nominee for the commission’s North-East board seat.
As smoke began billowing from the area, committee chairman Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong and Senator Salihu Mustapha stepped in immediately to contain the flames before they could spread, witnesses said.
Preliminary findings traced the fire to a microwave oven left switched on in the kitchen.
Their swift response kept the incident from damaging the facility or disrupting wider activities in the complex. No injuries were reported.
Normal operations resumed once the fire was fully extinguished and the room secured.
All involved vehicles were handed over to authorities for further checks standard procedure after such incidents.
The episode ended with no casualties, but with a clear reminder: fast action in the chamber averted what could have been a major fire in Nigeria’s legislative seat.
