The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Lagos Coroner

  • Synagogue: New judge to hear indicted engineers’ suit

    Synagogue: New judge to hear indicted engineers’ suit

    Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, has re-assigned a suit filed by two structural engineers indicted in the six-storey Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) building collapse to Justice Ibrahim Buba.

    The engineers are praying the court to quash a District Coroner’s verdict which found them culpable after an inquest.

    Justice Buba had last year adjudicated a suit which sought to stop the inquest.

    A Lagos-based lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje, who filed the suit on the church’s behalf, had contended that the inquest had a pre-determined objective since it was constituted by the state government whose agents made indicting statements against Synagogue and its founder, T.B. Joshua, prior to the inquest.

    But Justice Buba, in a judgment delivered last November 17, held that the coroner was a fact-finding body rather than a court. According to him, it was in the public’s interest to know the circumstances surrounding the death of several worshippers in the mishap.

    After the coroner indicted the engineers, namely Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, the duo filed two suits against the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), the state’s Attorney-General and the District Coroner, Mr. Oyetade Komolafe, a magistrate.

    The cases were filed during the court’s annual long vacation and were first heard by Justice Mohammed Idris who sat during the break period.

    Lagos State Government had filed a preliminary objection to the suit while it was still before Justice Idris.

    The engineers are challenging the July 8 coroner’s verdict on the death of 116 persons in the building collapse.

    Ogundeji and Fatiregun were accused of criminal negligence regarding the building’s construction. The coroner recommended them for criminal prosecution.

    Justice Idris had adjourned to Wednesday for further hearing, but the cases instead came up before Justice Buba.

     

  • Synagogue: Lagos opposes engineers’ bid to quash coroner’s verdict

    Synagogue: Lagos opposes engineers’ bid to quash coroner’s verdict

    Lagos State Government has filed a preliminary objection to a suit filed by two structural engineers indicted in the six-storey Synagogue Church of All Nations building collapse.

    The engineers are praying the Federal High Court in Lagos to quash the coroner’s verdict which found them culpable.

    Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun filed two suits numbered FHC/L/CS/1095/15 and FHC/L/CS/1096/15 against the Lagos Commissioner of Police, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), the state Attorney-General and the Alimosho District Coroner, Mr. Oyetade Komolafe.

    They are challenging the July 8 coroner’s verdict which indicted Ogundeji and Fatiregun of criminal negligence in the building collapse and recommended them for criminal prosecution.

    Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, had indicated that the government would implement the coroner’s verdict including filing criminal charges against the church.

    On Monday, Lagos Solicitor-General, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN), informed Justice Mohammed Idris of the notice of preliminary objection by the police, Attorney-General and Komolafe.

    The objection is on the ground that the applicants’ main complaint is not for enforcement of their fundamental human rights but to challenge the coroner’s verdict.

    The state said the respondents are not Federal Government agencies, therefore, their action or decisions are not subject to the court’s jurisdiction in the circumstances of the case.

    Lagos said the engineers’ application “is a gross abuse of court process.”

    The respondents said if the court critically examines the applicants’ reliefs, it would see that they are seeking a determination of the coroner’s verdict’s validity.

    The respondents said the alleged potential breach of the applicants’ fundamental rights is not the main complaint before the court.

     

  • Synagogue: Indicted engineers ask court to quash coroner’s verdict

    Synagogue: Indicted engineers ask court to quash coroner’s verdict

    Two structural engineers indicted in the six-storey Synagogue Church of All Nations’ building collapse have asked the Federal High Court in Lagos to quash the coroner’s verdict which found them culpable.

    The engineers – Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, filed two suits numbered FHC/L/CS/1095/15 and FHC/L/CS/1096/15 against the Lagos Commissioner of Police, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), the state Attorney-General and the coroner, Mr. Oyetade Komolafe.

    They are challenging the July 8 verdict of an inquest into the death of 116 persons in the September 2014 building collapse in the church.

    The coroner court indicted Ogundeji and Fatiregun of criminal negligence and recommended them for criminal prosecution.

    Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, had indicated that the government would implement the coroner’s verdict, including filing of criminal charges against the church.

    Ogundeji and Fatiregun’s lawyer, Mr. Olalekan Ojo, told Justice Mohammed Idris on Wednesday that he filed ex-parte applications seeking to restrain the police from inviting or arresting them for questioning with a view to prosecuting them.

     

  • Synagogue rejects coroner’s verdict

    Synagogue rejects coroner’s verdict

    The Synagogue Church of All Nations has rejected the verdict of the Lagos coroner court headed by Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe which indicted the church over the September 2014 building collapse that killed several people.

    The church which spoke through its counsel, Olalekan , described the coroner’s verdict as “unreasonable, one-sided and biased.”

    It added that the ruling was a one-sided verdict which left many issues unaddressed and questions unanswered.

    In its first official reaction to the verdict, the church in a statement issued on Thursday expressed disappointment with the coroner’s verdict which ruled that the six -storey building which served as its guest house collapsed due to foundation and structural failure.

    The church maintained its stand that the building collapsed was as a result of sabotage.

    Synagogue based its rejection of the coroner’s verdict delivered on Wednesday by Komolafe on 10 grounds.

    “There was no finding that the church engaged the services of unqualified or incompetent professionals for the construction of the building.

    “There was no finding that the church procured substandard materials for the construction of the building, as confirmed by officials of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) who gave evidence at the coroner and certified the materials used were all approved and of good quality.

    “There was evidence that the church had started processing the relevant building approval before the incident, which had been approved and assessed for payment by the appropriate government bodies.

    “There was no finding that connected the incident with the lack of a building permit.

    “There was no finding that church members prevented the statutory responders from carrying out their rescue duties,” it noted.

    The church said it disagreed “most vehemently with the finding that the incident was due to structural failure.”

     

  • Synagogue: Coroner ends sittings in March

    Synagogue: Coroner ends sittings in March

    The Lagos State Coroner, Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, on Tuesday said the inquest into the September 12, 2014 building collapse at the Synagogue Church of All Nations would be concluded in March.

    Chief Magistrate Komolafe stated this at the resumption of the inquest at the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja.

    The inquest was set up by the state government to unravel the cause of the building collapse at the church premises in Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos.

    About 115 persons mostly South Africans died in the incident.

    The coroner told the parties that the inquest could not go on as scheduled because the court was in possession of a letter from Synagogue’s counsel, Mr. Olalekan Ojo, asking for an adjournment.

    Ojo in the letter claimed that he was appearing in another case at the Federal High Court and had appealed to the inquest to vacate the Tuesday and Wednesday sittings.

    “This court cannot continue indefinitely. I just want to say that I am not going to sit for more than two weeks.

    “Anybody that will not come during that period, we will skip his or her testimony and move ahead.”

    He therefore adjourned the matter till February 26 for cross-examination of the church Chief Security Officer, Mr. Sunday Okojie.