Part of the official residence of the Commandant of Nigeria Defense Academy (NDA), Major General Sarham Jamil, was on Sunday night gutted by fire.
Eye witness account said it is not certain which part of the official residence, situated near Sultan Bello Mosque in Unguwan Sarki GRA was affected by he inferno. Though the eyewitness could not say when and where the fire started from but flames were sighted around 8pm.
He said fierce-looking armed soldiers prevented civilians in and around Unguwar Sarki from gaining entrance into the residence to render assistance.
The house has been the official residence of the commandants of the military institution for decades. It shares a fence with the prestigious Arewa House and the Guest House of Emir of Katsina in Kaduna and the residence of former Minister of state for Defense, Malam Lawal Batagarawa.
Another witness said men of the Nigeria Fire Service reached the house almost one hour after the fire started, adding that additional soldiers were mobilised to the area to safeguard the property from neighbours milling to help put out the fire. On their arrival, they told the people around to move far from the house.
The Academy Public Relations Officer, Major Abubakar Abdullahi, while confirming the fire incident, said part of the house was affected by the fire.
He said, “It is not the whole house that caught fire but a store where some items were kept. The state fire service was immediately contacted and there was no injury or fatality”.
Blueprint recalls that few months ago, when dry season was approaching, and onset of harmattan, the Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) warned against fire accident, urging for caution during the dry and harmattan season.
