Fire consumed the Faculty of Arts building housing the radio and television studio of the Department of Mass Communication, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, on Tuesday.
The fire destroyed broadcast equipment worth millions of naira in the building.
It was learnt that most of the equipment, including state-of-the-art television cameras, video data machine, editing suites and accessories, were among the valuables destroyed.
Eyewitnesses stated that the fire began around 11.15pm on Monday and lasted till 1.30am on Tuesday, when it was brought under control.
It was gathered that the fire started from the old studio before spreading to other offices.
The fire also consumed the students’ examination and result sheets, office equipment as well as other valuables.
The incident occurred barely three days after the outgoing state governor, Umaru Al-makura, the governor-elect, Abdullahi Sule, and other top government functionaries inaugurated the new studio.
Our correspondent, who visited the scene of the incident, observed staff and students of the institution trying to salvage what they could from the wreckage.
The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Suleiman Bala-Mohammed, expressed gratitude to the staff and students for their efforts in bringing the fire under control.
The VC, who described the incident as unfortunate, said measure would be taken to ensure that the consequences would be mitigated.
He also said, “We will try to put our own measures in place, but right now, we cannot speak authoritatively about the exact cause of the fire outbreak.
“There are a lot of speculations but when the dust settles, we will get the correct information on the cause or causes of the fire.”
