A portion of the federal secretariat housing the Police Service Commission in Abuja was this afternoon gutted by fire, a report from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) said.

A report in the online edition of the Abuja-based Daily Trust quoted a witness as saying that he was in the office with his colleagues when they heard a loud bang‎, which sent everyone scampering for safety.

He said they later learnt it was fire and they all evacuated to safety.

Fire service men later arrived to battle the fire.

“At the time of filing this report, the fire had began to subside,” the report said.

•Photo, courtesy of shows smoke from the Federal Secretariat building on fire.