False fire alarm nearly caused chaos

It was the time of the year again when Daily Trust had its annual dialogue series. The Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, hosted this year’s event which had the theme ‘Incumbency and Impunity in Politics: Safeguarding our Democracy Beyond 2015’.

Yesterday’s event, unlike in previous years, started behind schedule as many of the dignitaries and participants walked into the hall slightly late.

Justice Salihu Modibbo Alfa Belgore, former Chief Justice of Nigeria, was chairman of the event, with Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu as special guest of honour.

Other key personalities in attendance were Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima and Rep. Victor Ogene, who represented the Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

Three guest speakers lined up to deliver papers. They were Ms. Ayo Obe, civil society activist and lawyer Mr. Festus Okoye and Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim of the Centre for Democracy and Development.

The dialogue was declared open by Ekweremadu. The guest speakers also took turns to deliver their papers.

Then, something strange happened while Okoye was delivering his paper: a fire alarm. Someone came to alert the event’s organisers that a fire alarm had gone off and so people should immediately evacuate from the building.

There was panic at the reception desk of the occasion. No-one was sure what to do, as any hint in the packed hall of a fire alarm could trigger a stampede. People from other halls could be seen moving out in groups and abandoning their events.

But somehow, calm was maintained in the Congress Hall as Media Trust staff tried to find out really what was happening.

It turned out that it was not a real fire after all, but an alarm triggered because of a drill being carried out by the hotel people, though there were still rumours of an actual fire in the main hotel building of the hotel.

Whatever the case was, no-one left the Congress Hall over the false fire alarm. The event went on to a successful conclusion.