At least 17 offices at the Kwara State Ministry of Energy, Ilorin, were completely burnt in a fire incident which occurred on Tuesday night.

The fire was said to have started around 8:30 p.m, following power upsurge in one of the offices in the building, which used to serve as Government House.

It spread to all the other offices on the top floor of the one-storey building before the arrival of men of the Fire Service Department, Daily Trust gathered. Offices affected include those of the commissioner, permanent secretary, Special Assistant on Nomadic Affairs and directors, among others.

Daily Trust gathered that the state Fire Service had to reach out to the fire department of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) at the Ilorin International Airport, for assistance.

Alhaji Mohammed Alabi, a security guard at the ministry, said he noticed the fire while saying his prayers and that he immediately rushed to the police headquarters which is close to the building to inform them about the incident.

The Commissioner for Energy, Alhaji Musa Abdullahi, said: "Most of the offices where vital documents were kept were not affected during the inferno. Such offices are the Accounts Department, Department of Research and Planning, Department of Energy Generation and Energy Distribution Department, and the Registry. All those departments were not affected".

The state Head of Service, Alhaji Dabarako Mohammed, who visited the building on Tuesday night with Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Isiaka Gold, said government had planned to demolish the building.

He said the project for the construction of a new complex for the ministry was captured in the 2015 budget.

Mohammed said he has directed government engineers to quantify the cost of the damage and report back within 24 hours.

Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed also directed immediate investigation into the incident, assuring that the fire would not deter him in its determination to provide energy related infrastructure for the people.