Unity Bank douses tension over fire incident at head office

Omobayo Azeez

One of Nigeria’s financial institutions, Unity Bank Plc, has allayed the fear that arose following a fire outbreak that gutted a portion of its head office building on Monday, saying the situation is under control.

The head office of the institution located on Victoria Island, Lagos reportedly caught fire on Monday morning, causing pandemonium and confusion even as no casualty or injury was recorded in the incident.

Read Also: Business unaffected, Unity Bank says as fire razes head office

To assure people that the situations had been contained and activities at Unity Bank are not disturbed by the incident, the bank filed in an official statement, signed by its secretary, Mohammed Shehu, at the Nigerian Stock Exchange before the close of market on Monday.

The statement reads: “Unity Bank PIc wishes to inform The Nigerian Stock Exchange, its esteemed stakeholders, and the general public that there was a fire incident on one of the floors of our Head office building this morning.

“The fire, which started from the third floor of the building occupied by u tenant, has been fully extinguished. Preliminary investigations show that the damage is localized to this floor.

“Consistent with our business continuity framework, critical staff have been relocated to approved offsite locations and our operations are not in any way affected. Consequently, customers have unfettered access to their accounts through our electronic channels and branches.”

The bank added that detailed investigation and damage assessment exercise are on-going by federal and state fire service departments.

Unity bank went ahead to extend its appreciation to Total Nigeria plc, the Nigeria Petroleum Investment Management services (NAPIMS), the Lagos state Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Lagos State Fire Service, Federal Fire Service, EKo Hotel & Tours, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Union Bank PLC for their prompt response.

“We also thank our good neighbours, the FMDQ Securities Exchange (FMDQ), Churchgate, AIICO Insurance and others too numerous to mention. Finally, we thank our esteemed customers for their understanding and hereby restate our commitment to providing them safe secure and prompt services,” the statement read.