Inquest into Synagogue Church building collapse begins

The much anticipated inquest into the 12 September, Synagogue Church building collapse began today at the Lagos High Court premises.

The Lagos State Government had on 26 September, set up a tribunal to ascertain the cause of the church building collapse which left about 115 people dead.

Most of the victims of the collapsed building which serves as a guest house were mostly of South Africa nationality.

The General Overseer of the church, TB Joshua, linked the tragedy to a strange aircraft hovering above the building shortly before it fell.

A video was released by the church on social media platforms which showed the plane allegedly hovering around the building before its collapse .

Presiding over the inaugural sitting of the coroner’s inquest today, Magistrate O. A. Komolafe expressed condolence to families of the building collapse victim and emphasised that the court was only on a fact finding mission and not out prosecute anyone.

Prophet TB Joshua was represented at the tribunal by Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN while Mr Akingbolahan Adeniran represented that Lagos State Government.

Other representative includes Chukwu Audu for the Nigerian Police, Mr A. Adris for Lagos State Traffic Management, LASTMA and Rev Nwosu for the Nigerian Red Cross Society.

In his address to counsels and witnesses in the court, Magistrate Komolafe stated that the primary purpose of the inquest is to find out what happened and how it happened and make recommendations on how to avoid future occurrence.

“This coroner is not here to convict anyone but to find out the facts about what happen. We are not accusing anyone of anything but we are working for the betterment of the country. We are interested in what happened and why it happened. We would also welcome any recommendation from anyone on how to avoid similar future occurence,” Komolafe said.

Komolafe further urged members of the public with useful information that would assist the inquest to come forth.
 
The Magistrate however warned that a summon would be issued on any witness that fails to appear before the tribunal to make presentation.

He later adjourned the proceedings to October 24, for formal commencement of hearing.

Credit: Henry Ojelu/PM News