Panic gripped civil servants on Monday morning as firefighters battled to quell an inferno at the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) in Abuja, forcing workers to flee the premises for safety.

A section of the building was gutted by fire, triggering fear and confusion among staff before officials of the Federal Fire Service moved in to contain the blaze.

LEADERSHIP however learnt that the situation has since been brought under control. The Federal Fire Service, in a post on its official Facebook page signed by its national spokesperson, DCF Abraham Olobi, assured panicking civil servants that there was no cause for alarm, adding that the cause of the fire would be ascertained and communicated in due course.

Some civil servants were seen boarding buses and leaving the premises as a precautionary measure while firefighters battled the flames.

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A civil servant who identified himself as Mr. Emmanuel Agita, said he fled the building out of fear that the fire could escalate. "I was afraid of a reoccurrence or escalation of the fire, so I had to run for my life. My children are still very young; they cannot afford to be fatherless," he said.

Another civil servant, Mrs. Ngozika Uche, who declined to mention her department, speculated that the fire might not be unconnected to attempts to conceal sensitive documents. "As usual, some persons may have been trying to hide certain documents and, in order not to be indicted, would go the extra mile to do so," she alleged.