Collapsed building: T.B. Joshua’s church indicted

The coroner investigating the collapse of a six-storey building within the premises of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) had indicted the church even as it demands prosecution of the two structural engineers that handled the construction.

The six-storey building serving as the Guest House within the premises of the church collapsed on September 12, 2014, killing 116 people, most of them South Africans.

While giving its report at its final sitting yesterday, the inquest which was presided over by Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe accused the duo of Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun of Hardrock Construction Co Ltd of “criminal negligence.”

The duo were the structural engineers who handled the construction. The coroner also recommended the church for prosecution even as it accused it of not having the necessary permit to construct the collapsed building. He thus recommended that a fitness test on all the buildings within the church premises be carried out.

“Structural failure due to the combination of designs and detailing errors caused the building to collapse,” the coroner said.

The breakdown of the victims showed that 85 of them were South Africans, 22 Nigerians, two Benioises and two Togolese.

While reading his recommendations, Komolafe also dismissed the suggestion that the building collapse was as a result of an unidentified helicopter hovering above the premises.

He also recommended immediate transfer of the Divisional Police Officer attached to Ikotun Police station, CSP Haruna Alaba, saying it was unfortunate that the police officer “failed to take note of what was happening in his area and had to rely on information from the police headquarters.”

While speaking on the death of the 116 persons who lost their lives to the incident, Oyetade said it would be erroneous for the coroner to simply rely only on the evidence of the medical experts, saying “there is also the need to take into consideration the evidence of other experts for the issue to be properly adjudicated.”

The coroner said findings into cause of death also showed that manner in which the victims lost their lives was consistent with blunt force trauma that would normally be sustained from a collapsed building.

According to the coroner, most of the victims sustained various degree of injuries ranging from haemorrhage, loss of limbs, crushed bones, multiple rib fractures, perforation of the lungs, destruction of left tibia vessels, strangulation, and chest wounds.

A total of 32 witnesses gave evidence before the Coroner with 45 exhibits tendered. All the witnesses summoned appeared except the SCOAN founder, T.B Joshua who refused to appear before the inquest.

Joshua subsequently slammed a fundamental rights suit against the Coroner before Justice Lateefa Okunnu of a Lagos State High Court on the grounds that the court lacked the jurisdiction to summon him.

Meanwhile, the structural engineers Engr. Akinbola Fatiregun had vowed to challenge their indictment in court.

Fatiregun told journalists yesterday that his company, HardRock Construction Company Ltd, often implores international best practices in the discharge of its duties which also include the affected six-storey building.

“In our several years of establishment, we have never been involved in shady construction practice. We will definitely challenge the outcome of this coroner Inquest,” Fatiregun said.