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Tag: Synagogue

  • Witness: fire fighters were denied access to Synagogue’s collapsed building

    Witness: fire fighters were denied access to Synagogue’s collapsed building

    An Ikeja High Court yesterday heard that Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) members initially prevented fire fighters from accessing the church’s collapsed guest house on September 12, 2014.

    A retired Operational fire fighting Officer (opo) with Lagos State Fire Service Mr Musiliu Adebayo, told Justice Lateef Lawal – Akapo that himself and his team could only access the site when former Governor, Babatunde Fashola came on the second day of the incident.

    Led in evidence by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mrs Idowu Alakija, Adebayo said he devised a way to enter the hall following the church members’ hostility.

    Registered Trustees of SCOAN, two engineers – Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun – and their companies, Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company, and Jandy Trust Limited are being tried  for their alleged involvement in the incident.

    The charges against them borders on criminal negligence, manslaughter and failure to obtain building permit.

    The witness said he mixed with the crowd to enter the place for assessment while his team was stationed at a distance counting the victims.

    Adebayo said when he got to the site, “I observed there was no flame, no fire, I did not perceive any corrosive odour, the slabs, that is, the floors fell on each other like a pack of cards.

    “None of the victims, according to my study there sustained burns. I did not see any dismembered or scattered bodies around.”

    The witness said the victims had injuries associated with collapsed building, such as broken chest bones, limbs and other parts of the body.

    There was a short argument between the lead defence counsel, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) and the witness on when Fashola visited the site.

    Fagbemi submitted that, Fashola, did not visit the site the next day after the incident, but on a Sunday.

    But the witness insisted that  Fashola was there on the next day.

    Under cross – examination by Fagbemi, the witness said he was at the scene in his full fire fighting gear.

    At this juncture, Fagbemi sought the judge’s attention, stating: “my supplication to the court is to look at the demeanour of the witness as to what he said earlier that he was wearing”.

    The witness explained that he removed his jacket in order to mix with the crowd to conduct what he described as a “360 degrees check” to see if the place was safe for his men and himself.

    He said they were at the church four days after the  September 12,  2014 incident.

    The fire, he said, occurred within the rubble of the collapsed building.

    The witness however ruled out arson.

    He said: “On the fourth day at about 8:55am on Monday 15, there was a fire within the rubble of the collapsed building in the church premises and we were able to put it out.”

    Adebayo said the fire might have been caused by what he described as a “triangle of combustion. That is, there must be three things that can cause fire, such as fuel, oxygen and heat.”

    The witness said while putting out the fire, his team found clothings that could fuel it, and trapped cooking gas cylinders which might have leaked and passed to the rubble.

    He added that there were naked irons there too,” noting that if two irons clash, “they could produce heat if not fire.”

    Justice Lawal-Akapo adjourned to December 8.

  • Synagogue: Court admits video footage in evidence

    A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja on Tuesday admitted in evidence the video footage of how the Synagogue Church of All Nations guest house collapsed two years ago in Lagos.

    The court ‎presided by Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo in a ruling admitted the compact disc containing the video footage of the incident after it was played in court on Tuesday.

    The Lagos State government had arraigned the trustees of the church, the two engineers – Messrs Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun and their companies – Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Limited in court over the September 12, 2014 building collapse that killed 116 persons.

    The defendants are facing 111- count charge bordering on criminal negligence, manslaughter and failure to obtain building permit

    At the resumed hearing of the matter, the defence led by Chief Efe Akpofure (SAN) objected to the footage being admitted as evidence because it was computer generated, irrelevant and a copy of the original.

    Akpofure also pointed out that a witness for the state, Mr. Olutoyin Ayinde, a former Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, in his evidence had said he could not identify the content of the CD until he watches it to ascertain the content.’

    But Justice Lawal-Akapo dismissed the objection of the defence due to lack of merit.

  • Synagogue: Court rules on video evidence Tuesday

    Synagogue: Court rules on video evidence Tuesday

    Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo will on Tuesday rule on the admissibility of a video recording of the six- storey guest house that collapsed at the Synagogue Church of All Nations two years ago.

    Justice Lawal-Akapo took the decision after listening to arguments of prosecution and defence counsel in the ongoing trial of trustees of the church and their engineers.

    The trustees of the church, the two engineers – Messrs Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun and their companies, Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Limited are facing trial for the September 12, 2014 building collapse that killed about 116 persons.

    The state government had filed 111 charges bordering on criminal negligence, manslaughter and failure to obtain building permit against the defendants.

    At the resumed trial on Monday, the Director, Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) Mrs. Idowu Alakija, sought permission of the court to tender the compact video CD and for it to be admitted as evidence.

    ‎But the star witness, Mr. Olutoyin Ayinde, a former Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, requested to watch the video CD to ascertain the content before being led in evidence on it by the DPP.

    But the defence asked the court to dismiss the request.

    First to raise objection was counsel to the second defendant, Chief E.L Akpofure (SAN).

    Akpofure said: “I am objecting my Lord in the first place to the admissibility of document sought to be tendered by the prosecution because it has been labeled by the witness as being computer generated.

    “Going by the evidence of the witness who said ‘until I watch the CD, I won’t be in a position to ascertain whether this is the video I am referring to in my evidence.

    “This witness is not in a position to tender this evidence until he sees the content and identifies same.

    “This document is labeled as a Certified True Copy (CTC) of planning permit, which has nothing to do with the video the witness is talking about and from his own evidence, the computer that produced the recording was not operated by him.”

    Another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mrs. Titi Akinlawon, counsel to third and fifth defendants, in her objection, argued that only the maker of a document can tender it as evidence according to Section 83 of the Evidence Act.

  • Synagogue didn’t give investigators documents, says witness

    Synagogue didn’t give investigators documents, says witness

    The Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) refused to produce documents to aid investigation into its six-storey guest house which collapsed on September 12, 2014, an Ikeja High Court heard yesterday.

    A prosecution witness, Dr Olusegun Oyenuga, told Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo that the church did not respond to requests for documents from the Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) when the investigation stareted.

    He was testifying on the trial of the SCOAN Trustees, two engineers, Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, and their companies, Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Limited, for the collapsed building in which 116 persons died. They are facing a 111-count charge of criminal negligence, manslaughter and failure to obtain building permit.

    Under cross-examination by the trustees’ counsel, Mr Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), Oyenuga, a civil engineer, said COREN did not get a reply to its request for documents from the church.

    The witness said: “COREN sent a letter to SCOAN to furnish some documents which would aid investigation into the collapsed building but we did not receive such documents during our investigations.”

    Oyenuga, who claimed to have obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Civil Engineering from the Yaba College of Technology in 1978 and a first class Bsc degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Lagos in 1981, the nine-man investigation committee that visited the collapsed building site was constituted by COREN in conjunction with the Nigerian Buildings and Roads Research Institute (NIBRRI).

    He said there was no geophysicist in the nine-man panel set up by COREN and NIBRRI.

    The witness, who is a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Structural Engineers and its president between 2009 and 2011, said he did not know who delivered the request letter nor does he have an acknowledgement copy of the letter.

    Mrs Titi Akinlawon (SAN), counsel to Jandy Trust and ýOgundeji, at this stage, questioned Oyenuga’s claim that he received no documents from SCOAN, saying, “you alleged in your evidence that you got exhibits P2 and P3 from the church. In what circumstances did you get those documents?”

    Oyenuga said he did not get the documents from the church but from the office of the Coroner set that investigated the incident.

    Justice Lawal-Akapo adjourned till today.

     

     

  • Ikotun hoteliers lose N3.9bn to Synagogue crisis

    Hoteliers in the Ikotun area of Lagos State said they are currently suffering huge loss due to low occupancy rate in most of their hotels.

    They said since the Synagogue Church of All Nations accident and the  consequent disagreement with the Lagos State government, the hotels have lost over N3.9 billion revenue.

    The hoteliers spoke with some journalists under the aegis of the Pilgrims Hostels Association of Nigeria. They  said: “The total number of bed spaces of different categories of  hotels in the Ikotun area stands at about 3500. Before the accident, the hotels had 100 per cent occupancy rate in three days of every week due to the programmes in the church.

    “The occupancy rates currently fluctuate between 10 per cent and zero all week long.”

    According to them, what this meant was that in these three days, instead of having their normal 3500 bed spaces sold, they could only boast of 350 rooms occupied.

    Chief Jerry Omoridion, one of the hoteliers said: “ We have been crying for a long time and the government does not seem to understand our plight. It is a serious issue for us because our means of sustenance is currently being wiped out. Look at it this way, you will understand what we are talking about.

    “Before the unfortunate incident at the church, I mean the Synagogue Church of All Nations, cumulatively, we have a total of about 3,500 hotel bed spaces. I am not adding some of these hotels that were in the process on coming on board, but had to stop since the accident. The hotels have different categories of rooms, but for you people to understand the enormity of our loss, let me peg the room rates at just N5,000.

    “That is the cheapest room rate in any decent hotel in Ikotun. Before the accident, we were having the 100 per cent occupancy rate on at least three days in a week. This may sound unbelievable. You are members of the press, go round and do your investigations.

    “But now, the occupancy rate in these three days is less than 10 per cent. Many of my colleagues have reduced their staff to the barest minimum; some of us are doing the jobs we used to employ and pay workers to do, since we can’t afford to employ now due to bad business climate.

    “With a 10 per cent occupancy rate only about 350 rooms are sold by our members every night. Many had zero occupancy on many occasions. What it means is that 3150 empty rooms, at N5,000 minimum per night, we are losing about N15,750,000 per night. In a month, the loss is at 189,000,000.

    “ Multiply that figure by 21 months, you have a whopping N3,969,000,000 as loss of revenue. This is just a conservative estimate. Mind you, this money is injected directly into the community. Think about the multiplier effect on the economy of the area. You can understand why we are shouting loudly. I am just talking about three days that we were sure of patronage.”

    Asked what he was expecting the government to do since the case was already in court, Omorodion said: “Look, this is a tourist destination. No area in Nigeria has a steady inflow of inbound tourists like Ikotun in Lagos. Go and do your research. Let me digress, I want you to go to the airport cab operators and find out how this has affected their business.

    “Back to what I was saying, we insist that the government should understand that being a destination, all over the world, when there is accident, being mindful of the peculiar nature of the place, they should put in machineries to get to the root of the accident, take punitive action where necessarily without portraying the destination as unsafe and also overtly discouraging people from visiting there.”

  • Collapsed Synagogue building had no structural engineer – Witness

    Collapsed Synagogue building had no structural engineer – Witness

    A witness, Dr. Olusegun Oyenuga, told the Lagos High Court, Ikeja, on Friday that the collapsed seven-storey guest house of Synagogue Church of All Nations had no structural engineer.

    Oyenuga made the statement in the trial of two engineers arraigned on 111- count charge of gross negligence and criminal manslaughter in the deaths of 116 people, including 85 South Africans, in the building, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    “There was no structural engineer for Synagogue to the best of our knowledge. During the compilation of the report into the cause of the collapsed building, no structural engineer for the church came forward.

    “The court needs to educate the public that every structure needs a structural engineer.

    “A civil engineer is not necessarily a structural engineer unless registered by the Council of Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN),” he said.

    The engineer, who was led in evidence by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mrs. Idowu Alakija, told the court how investigations into the collapsed building were carried out by his committee.

    “I was a member of the committee that generated a report on the Synagogue building collapse. COREN put up an advert that all engineers involved in the construction of the collapsed building should report to the COREN office at Ikoyi but no one showed up.

    “I and other members of the committee went to the site of the building collapse to conduct some analysis and design tests.

    “We requested drawings from the church and one Mr. G.A. Akinfenwa came to our office to drop two documents, a structural drawing and a calculation and drawing for beam seven which was a major beam,” Oyenuga stated.

     

     

  • Prosecution files fresh evidence in Synagogue’s case

    Prosecution files fresh evidence in Synagogue’s case

    TRIAL of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) trustees and two engineers will resume tomorrow at an Ikeja High Court following the filing of fresh evidence by the prosecution.

    The trustees and the engineers – Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun – are standing trial for the September 12, 2014 collapse of Synagogue’s six-storey guest house at Ikotun, Lagos, in which 116 died.

    Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo adjourned the case yesterday to enable the defence study the new evidence filed by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mrs Idowu Alakija.

    Last May 23, the court disallowed a prosecution witness, Adebayo Musiliu Olayinka, from testifying because his statement was not served on the defence.

    Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) for the trustees, Chief Efe Akpofure (SAN) and Mrs Titi Akinlawon (SAN) for the engineers objected to the witness mounting the box without being served with his statement.

    Telling the court that the prosecution had filed fresh evidence and served the defence yesterday, Mrs Alakija said the prosecution was ready to proceed with the case.

    But, Fagbemi told Justice Lawal-Akapo that the defence would need time to study the documents.

    Fagbemi insisted that Olayinka cannot testify until the defence finished studying the additional documents. He urged the court to give them time to study the new evidence to enable them cross-examine the witness properly.

    Akpofure and Akinlawon agreed with him. The DPP did not object to their request.

    The trustees, Ogundeji and Fatiregun, their companies – Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Limited – were last month arraigned on an 111-count charge of criminal negligence, manslaughter and failure to obtain building permit.

  • Prosecution files new evidence against Synagogue trustees, engineers

    Prosecution files new evidence against Synagogue trustees, engineers

    The prosecution handling the trial of Trustees of the Synagogue Church of all Nations  and the two engineers involved in the construction of the ‎collapsed six-storey  church guest house, Messrs Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, has filed new proof of evidence against the defendants.

    The documents which were filed before the Lagos High Court, Ikeja and presided by Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo and served on the counsels to the defendants on Wednesday made it impossible to commence trial against them for the second time.

    The court on May 23 disallowed a prosecution witness from giving testimony in the matter following objection raised by counsel to the registered trustees of the church (first defendants), Chief Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), that the witness statement was not forwarded to the defence team by the prosecution led by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mrs. Idowu Alakija, as stipulated by law.

    Counsels to other defendants, Chief Efe Akpofure (SAN), Mrs. Titi Akinlawon (SAN), and Olalekan Ojo had aligned themselves with the objection raised by Fagbemi.

    Justice Lawal-Akapo had in his ruling last week directed the prosecution to furnish the defence with the statement of the prosecution witness, Adebayo Musiliu Olayinka, who was not allowed to testify before the court by the defence counsel.

     

  • Synagogue engineers granted bail

    Synagogue engineers granted bail

    The two engineers who handled the construction of the collapsed six-storey guest house at the Synagogue Church of All Nations were on Tuesday granted bail in the sum of N10 million each by the Lagos High Court, Ikeja.

    The two engineers are – Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun.

    Ruling on the bail applications filed through their lawyers, Mrs. Titi Akinlawon (SAN) and Olalekan Ojo respectively,‎ the trial judge, Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo, said the defendants must also produce two sureties in like sum.

    However, Justice Lawal-Akapo, ordered that one of the sureties must be a civil servant on grade level 14 in the Lagos State Civil Service.

    In addition, the judge said the second surety must provide evidence of tax payment for the last three years and also swear to an affidavit of means.

    He also ordered the contractors to submit their travel documents to the Chief Registrar of the High Court of Lagos State.

     

  • Synagogue engineers sent back to prison

    Synagogue engineers sent back to prison

    THE two engineers being tried for the collapsed Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) guest house in which 116 persons died are to remain in prison, pending the May 3 ruling on their bail applications.

    Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo of the Ikeja High Court sent Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun back to Kirikiri Prisons yesterday when he reserved ruling on the case.

    Mrs Titi Akinlawon (SAN), counsel to Fatiregun, in her client’s April 19 application brought pursuant to Section 115 (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law, argued that the offences were bailable.

    “He has been charged before for the same offences at the magistrates’ court and did not jump bail. So if granted bail now, he will also not jump bail,” she argued.

    Ogundeji’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo told the court that “granting my client bail will put him in the best position to prepare for his trial.”

    But the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Mrs Idowu Alakija, urged the court not to grant the applications.

    She argued that though the court has discretion on bail, “the 4th defendant (Ogundeji) does not have an address within the jurisdiction of the court and therefore may jump bail if granted.”