Emotional Moment as FIRS Staff Killed in Afriland Towers Fire Are Named: “Gone but not Forgotten”
- Four senior staff members of Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) have been named among the victims of the tragic Afriland Towers fire
- The agency paid tribute to their decades of service and shared heartfelt messages of remembrance
- The emotional release of their names and photos has sparked nationwide mourning and calls for reflection
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) of Nigeria has released the names and photographs of four staff members who tragically lost their lives in the recent Afriland Towers fire, marking a sombre moment of remembrance and reflection across the nation.
In a heartfelt post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on 25 September, FIRS Nigeria honoured the memory of the deceased, describing them as “dearly valued colleagues, taken too soon but forever in our hearts.”
Source: Twitter
The message concluded with a poignant farewell: “Rest well our dearly beloved colleagues.”
The victims, all senior personnel within the Lagos offices of the FIRS, were confirmed to have died on 16 September 2025, following the devastating blaze that engulfed Afriland Towers.
Their names, roles, and years of service were formally acknowledged in the tribute.
Source: Twitter
Victims of Afriland Towers fire remembered
The four staff members commemorated by FIRS include:
• George Faith Ekelikhostse, Assistant Director at MTO Lagos, born on 19 September 1967. He had served the agency for 32 years before his untimely death just days before his 58th birthday.
• Sundayjatto David, Assistant Director at Lagos Island 1 MTA, born on 11 April 1971. He had dedicated 15 years to the service.
• Ifaranmaye Peter, Manager at Lagos Island 1 MTA, born on 12 June 1977. He had been with FIRS for 9 years.
• Onyemelukwe Nkem, Senior Manager at Lagos Island 1 MTA, born on 7 November 1970. He had served for 13 years.
The release of their names and photos has stirred emotions nationwide, with many Nigerians expressing condolences and solidarity with the families and colleagues of the deceased.
See the X post here:
National grief and institutional loss
The Afriland Towers fire has not only claimed lives but also left a deep scar on one of Nigeria’s key revenue institutions.
The loss of experienced professionals such as Ekelikhostse and David, both Assistant Directors, depicts the gravity of the tragedy and the institutional void it has created.
As investigations into the cause of the fire continue, tributes have poured in from across the public sector, with many calling for improved safety measures in government buildings.
The phrase “Gone but not forgotten” has become a rallying cry for those mourning the victims, encapsulating the collective grief and enduring respect for their service.
Expert speaks on exit, fire safety lapses
A fire and safety expert, Femi Olayemi, has stressed the importance of proper exit planning and fire prevention systems in Nigerian buildings following the tragic Afriland Towers incident in Lagos.
In a conversation with Legit.ng on the safe exit variations for different types of buildings, he said:
“For a bungalow, maybe a three or four-bedroom apartment, at least a minimum of two exits must be there. Maybe from the entrance and from the kitchen,” he explained.
Speaking on popular designs of duplexes, he noted,
“Two doors will be down, there won’t be any exits from the up. For the one that is down, they must not block the (second) exit door at all. The reason is that an emergency or fire will not inform you when it will happen.”
Turning to high-rise structures, Olayemi described the Afriland Tower incident as “quite unfortunate” and attributed it partly to weak government oversight.
According to the safety expert, anyone constructing a building in Nigeria should undergo proper certification, and if the structure is for commercial use, such as a hotel, consultation with the fire service is essential.
He stressed that in modern high-rise designs, “at every floor in part of the design, there’s supposed to be a dry riser or wet riser. Whereby in any of the floors, a firefighter can easily get there, connect the hose and fight the fire instead of running the hose from the ground floor.”
Explaining further, he said:
“The difference between a dry riser and a wet riser is that the dry riser has no water inside, so it is you (fire fighters) that will come with your truck to pressurise the line. But the wet riser, 247, there’s water in it. Once there’s an outlet there, you can actually connect your hose and get water from the wet riser that is already pressurised.”
Last words of lady who died in Afriland Towers
Legit.ng earlier reported that the last words of an employee of United Capital Plc who died in the Afriland Towers fire have been made public.
Kehinde Adeoye was among the six employees of the company who passed away from the fire that engulfed the Afriland Towers in Lagos, where the company's office was located.
Remembering its employees who died in the fire accident, the company released a post on X, displaying their pictures and ages. Responding to the tweet, a lady named Boluwatife, @tifeogunjimi, shared the last words of her friend, Kehinde, who died in the fire.
Editorial assistant Ololade Olatimehin provided exclusive commentary from a fire and safety expert for this report.
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Source: Legit.ng
