PICTORIAL: Fire Guts Rivers Secretariat

Fire has engulfed a section of the Rivers State Secretariat complex in Port Harcourt, with firefighters from the State Fire Service doing all they can to save the entire building from destruction.

LEADERSHIP observed that the fire truck that arrived may not be able to tackle the raging inferno, which was threatening to spread further if not contained.

The state secretariat complex was constructed by the administration of the first military governor of old Rivers State, Alfred Diete-Spiff, in the 1970s.

The complex is a cluster of five high-rising buildings, with the tallest building being 17-storey called Point Block, followed by a 10-Storey building called Podium Block.

There are other three seven-storey buildings partitioned into three, namely blocks A, B and C.

LEADERSHIP recalls that the complex was first rehabilitated in 2004 during administration of former Governor Peter Odili.

In September 2025, the immediate-past administrator of the state, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Rtd), promised to begin the total rehabilitation of the secretariat complex but did nothing until the emergency rule in the state expired on September 18, 2025.

No official statement has been issued by the state government on the ugly development.

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