The battle to enforce the verdicts of Lagos Coroner into the collapse of a six-storey building of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) resumes tomorrow. Sunday Oguntola reports on the intrigues and twists that have characterised the tragic incident.
Should Lagos State enforce the Coroner’s indictment of the Synagogue Church of All Nations and its engineers for the September 12, 2014 collapse of the church’s six-storey building that left 116 persons dead?
The Federal High Court in Lagos will determine this tomorrow during the hearing of a suit before it by the church challenging Governor Akinwumi Ambode’s directive to security agencies to arrest the indicted persons and enforce the verdict.
The verdicts
After the rubbles of the collapse 85 South Africans, 22 Nigerians, two Beninoise, two Togolese and six unidentified persons died from collapse of the building, which served as a guest house close to the church that attracts thousands of worshippers worldwide monthly.
The victims were believed to be waiting for the miracle services of the church conducted by its renowned founder, Prophet Temitope Joshua. The building was under construction as at the time of its collapse.
The nationalities of the victims attracted international outcries, making Lagos State Government to institute a Coroner’s Inquest into the circumstances surrounding the collapse.
Ten months after tedious sitting, the Coroner on July 8, 2015 finally came up with a report. It indicted the church for “criminal negligence” and recommended its prosecution. The church, it said, did not get the requisite approval before commencement of the building.
The Coroner’s Court, presided over by Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, stated that the “death of victims of the collapse was consistent with blunt force trauma that would normally be sustained from a collapsed building.”
On the cause of the collapse, the court attributed it to structural failure as well as a combination of designs and detailing errors. It said the alleged aircraft which SCOAN claimed hovered over the building minutes before it collapsed was not the cause of the collapse of the building.
Komolafe said: “Alleged aircraft was not the cause of the building collapse. Building permits/approval was not obtained in respect of the collapsed building. The foundation failure was a remote cause of the collapsed building.”
The court said that the contractors Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, both engineers of Hard Rock Construction Co. Ltd, that handled the collapsed building project for SCOAN be investigated and tried for criminal negligence by the relevant authority.
Recommendations
The Court went on to recommend that the state government should as a matter of urgency carry out detailed ‘fitness for habitation test’ on all the structures/buildings within the premises of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, situated at Segun Irefin Street, Bolorunpelu, Egbe, Lagos State.
Based on testimonies at its sitting, the Coroner said the DPO of Ikotun Police Station, CSP Haruna Alaba, should be replaced with immediate effect because he has allegedly become too compromise to supervise a credible inquiry into the incident.
Alaba, according to Komolafe, did not observe happenings in his area but chose to rely on information from the Police Headquarters. He also tasked government to cut down the cost of obtaining necessary building permits/approvals as well as removing all administrative bottlenecks to encourage individuals/organisations go through the due process of obtaining necessary permits before commencement of building construction.
According to him, “Synagogue Church of All Nations should be prosecuted by the relevant authorities for not possessing necessary building permits.
“Individuals/Organisations must endeavour to obtain relevant building permits before commencement of any building construction.
“Individuals/Organisations must engage the services of qualified and competent Engineers/Consultants in carrying out building constructions.
“Government agencies responsible for ‘monitoring and inspection’ at every stage of construction should be alive to their responsibility and vigilant. Alternatively, the function of ‘monitoring and inspection’ be outsourced to competent professional body that will detect violation of building law and regulations early before any failure.
“Statutory/First Responders should be adequately equipped to perform their functions effectively and efficiently.
“The Government, NGO’s and other ancillary bodies should educate and sensitise the public on the need to always allow the statutory/first responders perform their duties during rescue operations/emergency cases and not take over the duties.
“Government should make it mandatory for professionals involved in the design and supervision of major structural building constructions to have professional indemnity.
“Government should take steps to secure and preserve the site of any collapsed building, so as not to compromise the conduct of investigation at the collapsed site.”
Ambode vowed that his administration will enforce the coroner’s verdicts immediately after the report was made public.
Commitment to enforcement
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Habib Aruna, Ambode reiterated the state government’s commitment to uphold and enforce the law in the state and called on residents to respect them.
He also said that the state government would also prosecute the Synagogue Church of All Nations for neglecting to obtain building approval before commencing the building, contrary to the provisions of the Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2010.
The governor unequivocally declared that the case must be pursued to a logical conclusion to serve justice to the victims and serve as a deterrent to future offenders.
Not pleased with Lagos State’s moves to enforce the verdicts, the indicted engineers of the church approached the Federal High Court for enforcement of their fundamental human rights. They claimed entitlement to fair hearing, human dignity and personal liberty as provided under Sections 34, 35 and 36 of the Constitution.
Appeal for nullification
According to them, the Nigerian Police, Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria (COREN) and the Lagos State Government (Respondents) will act upon the Coroner’s findings by proceeding to arrest, investigate and/or prosecute them for criminal negligence.
They also contended that if these aforementioned acts are carried out by the Respondents, their actions would amount to a likely breach of their fundamental human rights to fair hearing, human dignity and personal liberty.
They are asking for nullification of the Coroner’s verdict, perpetual injunction restraining the Nigerian Police from arresting or interrogating them, perpetual injunction restraining COREN from causing them to appear before any investigatory or disciplinary panel.
In reaction, the Lagos State Government filed a counter affidavit and preliminary objections to the suit arguing that Synagogue Church and the engineers were granted audience at the Coroner’s Court and availed the opportunity of tendering their depositions and making oral evidence.
It also contended that the Coroner did not issue a “judicial indictment” on the applicants but made recommendations that they should be investigated and, if found culpable, prosecuted for criminal negligence.
Will the victims die in vain? Will they be served justice? The process may begin after tomorrow.
