Fire scare at Cocoa House, Ibadan, on Tuesday as smoke was seen emanating from the fourth floor of the tallest building in the city.
At the 26-storey building belonging to Odua Investment, concerned person told PUNCH that it was an electric spark at a new communications’ company that has an office in the building and that the situation was quickly brought under control.
“There was a spark from the faulty meter and it brought out smoke. Naturally, people would express fear because of a past incident when the building got burnt with many people injured. But there was no damage to the building this time because the spark did not ignite fire,” she said.
But Group Head, Corporate Affairs, Odua Investment, Victor Ayetoro, who confirmed the incident, told PUNCH that there was smoke from the fourth floor with no damage to the structure.
He said, “I can confirm to you that there is no fire in Cocoa House. An engine was started on the fourth floor and it emitted smoke which probably caused a scare because people could see the smoke from distance because of the height of the building and its strategic position in the area.
“While we appreciate the concern of those who contacted The PUNCH Newspaper, we also want to advice people not to raise a false alarm without confirming the situation on the ground.”
