In a widely publicized fire at Afriland Towers on Broad Street, Lagos, on Tuesday, ten employees of the United Capital Plc and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) perished.  

Both United Capital Plc and the FIRS have confirmed the fatalities in their own announcements.  UCP, on the other side, lost six employees to the incident, and FIRS reported losing four.  

The victims were identified as Mrs. Ekelikhostse George (Assistant Director), Mr. David Sunday-Jatto (Assistant Director), Mrs. Nkem Onyemelukwe (Senior Manager), and Mr. Peter Ifaranmaye (Manager) in a statement provided by the Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS Chairman, Dare Adekanmbi.

When the disaster happened, the deceased were employed on the sixth and seventh floors of the structure, which housed two FIRS offices.

“It is with a heavy heart that FIRS announces the tragic loss of four of its staff members during the fire incident at Afriland Towers,” the statement read.

According to the agency, the impacted floors are the location of its Medium Tax Audit and Onikan Emerging Tax Office.  When informed, its Security and Safety officials promptly called the fire department, but the building was already covered in dense smoke, it added.  

In addition to expressing their profound shock, FIRS's management and employees have contacted the relatives of the departed and pledged to offer all the help they need.

“We are working in collaboration with all relevant agencies in Lagos to get to the root cause of the unfortunate incident. While this is going on, we will be reviewing safety measures across FIRS offices in both rented and owned buildings nationwide,” the statement said.