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Synagogue: Coroner to give verdict July 8

The Lagos Coroner investigating the collapse of a building on September 12, last year, at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Ikotun, Lagos will give its verdict on July 8.

The Coroner court presided over by Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe announced this yesterday after parties made their final submissions.

About 115 persons, mostly tourists from South Africa, lost their lives when the six-storey building, which served as guest house for visitors, collapsed.

The Lagos State government had set up the inquest to ascertain the cause of the collapse and identify the victims.

The Founder of the church, Pastor Temitope Joshua, had initially linked the tragedy to a strange aircraft hovering above the building shortly before it collapsed.

The church released a video on social media, which showed an aircraft hovering around the building before its collapse.

The coroner took evidences from many witnesses, counsel of the government, trustees of the church and professionals in the construction industry.

Joshua declined the coroner’s invitation to appear in person before the court.

Instead, the cleric, through his counsel, Olalekan Ojo, filed an application in which he sought the order of the high court setting aside his invitation.

He accused the coroner of delving into areas outside its jurisdiction.

Joshua told the coroner court that he was not under any obligation to testify before the coroner.

The high court presided over by Justice Lateefa Okunnu ruled that the Coroner had the power to summon anybody and corporate body it deemed fit to assist it in the conduct of the inquest.

But the cleric appealed the ruling. The matter is still pending before the Court of Appeal.

The Lagos State government had insisted that the inquest must be guided by Section 40 of the coroner’s law which bestows on it the role to find out who the deceased are, when and how they died.

The government had submitted that since the issue of who the deceased are and when they died had been resolved by the report prepared by the state’s Chief Medical Director, Prof John Obafunwa.

June 3, 2015
Synagogue: Coroner rules on collapsed building July 8

The Lagos Coroner Court investigating the September 12, 2014 building collapse at the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Ikotun, Lagos, will give its verdict on the incident on July 8.

The court presided by Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe disclosed stated this on Tuesday‎ after parties in the inquest had made their final submissions to the court.

About 115 persons, mostly tourists from South Africa died when a six- storey building which served as guest house for the church visitors collapsed.

The state government set up the inquest to ascertain the cause of the building collapse, identify the victims and how they died.

The Founder of the church, Pastor T. B. Joshua, had initially linked the tragedy to a strange aircraft hovering above the building shortly before it collapsed.

The church later released a video on social media platforms which showed an aircraft hovering around the building before its collapse.

June 2, 2015
Synagogue: Coroner concludes inquisition of witnesses

The Lagos Coroner investigating the last September 12 collapsed building at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) has concluded taking evidences.

It adjourned sitting till June 2.

The coroner court, presided over by Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, said the adjournment was for submission and adoption of final written addresses from counsel.

The coroner court was instituted by the Lagos State government under the state Coroner’s System Law No.7 of 2007 to investigate the death of 116 people in the building collapse.

It is expected to submit its findings and recommendations to the appropriate authorities.

The court, which commenced sitting last October 13, had taken evidences from many witnesses, including National Emergency Management Agency, State Emergency Management Agency, Nigerian Red Cross Society, State Fire Service, State Transport Management Authority, State Building Control Agency, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Ministry of Works and the Surveyor-General.

Others were the SCOAN building contractors, the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Ministry of Tourism, the police, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Chief Medical Director of the State University Teaching Hospital.

The founder of SCOAN, Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua, however, declined to testify before the coroner court throughout the seven months it court sat.

Joshua, through his counsel, Olalekan Ojo, challenged the court’s jurisdiction by filing an application dated November 11, 2014 before the high court, seeking a judicial review of the Coroner’s Inquest into the building collapse.

He had asked the court to declare that the coroner exceeded its jurisdiction as a coroner court by delving into areas that were beyond its scope.

Joshua’s application was eventually dismissed by Justice Lateefa Okunnu of a Lagos High Court, who ruled that the coroner court has the power to invite any person or institution it deemed fit would assist it in carrying out its assignment.

Not satisfied with the court’s decision, Joshua headed for the Court of Appeal to contest the ruling. The appeal is still pending in court.

At the last sitting, the church faulted a technical report submitted by the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG).

The BCPG, in its technical report, submitted to the coroner court said the guest house collapsed as a result of structural failure.

Ojo argued that the group’s conclusions were based on mere suspicion.

The SCOAN counsel said the BCPG could not have been correct in its report because its investigation and finding were based on materials suspected to be remnants of the collapsed beams at the building collapsed site.

Ojo said the BCPG’s conclusion cannot be correct since it was based on suspicions, which cannot be established in court.

April 30, 2015
Synagogue: Witness faults report on collapsed guest house

A Geo-technical enginer, Mr Joseph Folayan Wednesday disagreed with the report of the Lagos State Material Testing Agency, which stated the September 12, 2014 collapsed guest house at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) was caused by defects in its foundation.

Engr. Folayan who claimed to have had 45 years experience as a geo-technical engineer told the coroner court making inquest into the incident that the report of Lagos State Material Testing Agency was based on assumptions.

The witness stated this at the resumed hearing of the coroner court holding in Ikeja under Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe.

About 110 persons were believed to have died in the September12, 2014 building collapse at the SCOAN, Ikotun.

In its report now before the coroner court, the Lagos State Material Testing Agency had claimed in its Structural Integrity Test on the six-storey building that it collapsed due to a defective foundation.

Folayan who was led in evidence by counsel to the church, Olalekan Ojo maintained that the soil under the foundation of the collapsed building did not fail.

“As a practising geo-technical engineer with over 45 years experience, it is my view that the soil under those foundation did not fail. Neither did the pad used in the construction of the building constitute a failure,” he further maintained.

Engr. Folayan said there was need to sanitize the engineering profession because it has been infiltrated by quacks adding that Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria (COREN) is the only body that is legally bound to regulate the activities of any engineering practitioner in the country.

“Engineers in the country should sit up so as to forestall any further occurrence of building collapse,” he said adding that there was a need, more than ever before “to sanitize the engineering profession because it has been infiltrated.”

Meanwhile, the coroner court admitted as exhibits, some documents tendered by the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr Olutoye Ayinde.

According to Ayinde, the documents included the approval plan for the main auditorium of the church and a general survey of the entire church complex.

Counsel to the church, Ojo, however, objected to their admission arguing that they were not related in any way to the collapsed building and therefore irrelevant to the inquest.
According to him, SCOAN’s position has always been that it was processing permit and some payment made to the government in that regard for the building, when the unfortunate incident happened.

However, the trial coroner, Mr. Komolafe, held that the documents should be admitted as Exhibits and they were marked 035 to 040.

Chief Magistrate Komolafe thereafter adjourned cross examination of the geo-technical engineer
till April , 2015 for further hearing.

March 25, 2015
Synagogue: Pathologist yet to identify six victims – Obafunwa

A Consultant Pathologist, Prof. John Obafunwa, on Friday said forensic examiners have yet to identify the bodies of six victims of the Synagogue Church of All Nations building collapse.

Obafunwa, who is the Chief Medical Examiner of Lagos State, disclosed this while presenting the final report to the coroner’s inquest set up to unravel the cause of the incident.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the inquest was set up by the Lagos State Government to investigate the Sept. 12, 2014 building collapse which killed 116 people, mainly South Africans.

The report entitled: “Report on the Collapsed Building in Synagogue Church of All Nations,’’ was admitted by the court as Exhibit 034.

Led in evidence by Mr. Akingbolahan Adeniran, counsel to the Lagos State Government, the witness said autopsies were performed on the 116 bodies recovered from the collapse site.

He said the post mortem examinations were concluded on Sept. 30, 2014 and the samples for DNA examination were sent to Unistel Laboratory in South Africa.

Obafunwa said: “the first set of DNA and fingerprinting results were sent to me on Nov. 3, 2014. Thereafter, an identification committee was set up.

“At this time, 74 South Africans (as well as few from Switzerland, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, etc) were identified and subsequently released to the South African Authority on Nov. 15, 2014.

“Again, the identification committee sat on Feb. 4, 2015 following the receipt of other results from South Africa.

“During this time, another 11 South Africans were identified and again released to their authority on Feb. 5, 2015, thus concluding the release of a total of 85 victims of South African origin.

“The respective death certificates as well as embalmment certificates were also handed over to the South African authority.’’

According to him, in addition to these figures, 25 others (comprising 22 Nigerians, two Benenois and one Togolese) were identified and released, bringing the total number of deceased individuals to 110.

He said: “there are six bodies left in the morgues (three each in Isolo and Yaba mortuaries) that are yet to be identified.

“In summary, the victims of the building collapse comprise 60 males, and 56 females; among the male victims was a child allegedly aged six years.

“The distribution of the causes of death is as follows: 56 Multiple injuries, 19 Traumatic asphyxia, 19 Exsanguination, 12 Severe craniocerebral injury, nine Haemothorax following multiple rib fractures and one Congestive cardiac failure following hypertensive heart disease.

“The varying injuries seen on the victims are consistent with blunt force trauma that will normally be sustained from a collapsed building.’’

Testifying earlier at the proceedings, Mr. Oladele Ogundeji, the engineer who supervised the project, insisted that the collapse of the building was inconsistent with structural defect.

He said all the materials used for the construction were of the best quality, insisting that the foundation bases and columns were adequate to support the building.

NAN reports further hearing on the matter was fixed for March 25.

March 20, 2015
Synagogue: T.B. Joshua appeals against court judgement

Pastor Temitope Joshua and the Registered Trustees of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN),
have appealed against the judgement of a Lagos high court which declined to stop the on-going coroner inquest into the September 12, 2014 collapsed building in the church.

This was made known Thursday to the coroner, Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe at the resumed sitting of the coroner court in Ikeja through their counsel, Seun Abimbola.

Abimbola had been asked by the coroner court to pick a date that the founder of the SCOAN, Pastor Joshua would appear before the court to give testimony in the matter.

Rather than pick a date, Abimbola informed Chief Magistrate Komolafe that they have filed a Notice of Appeal at the Lagos division of the Court of Appeal, against the judgment of Justice Lateefa Okunnu of a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja.

Justice Okunnu had declined an application filed by the trustee of SCOAN, alongside its founder.

They had prayed the court to stop the ongoing coroner’s inquest into the collapsed guest house belonging to the church.

Justice Okunnu had dismissed their application on the ground that it was premature and lacks merit.

Justice Okunnu explained that Sections 26 and 27 of the Coroner’s System Law of Lagos State 2007, empowered the coroner to summon any witness to assist him in his fact-finding mission, adding that there was nothing unusual in the summons extended to Prophet Joshua.

Justice Okunnu also declared that there was no evidence before the court to show that the coroner had been biased against the applicants.

She had therefore declined to hold that the coroner was biased.

Justice Okunnu also maintained that Chief Magistrate Komolafe as a coroner has the powers to take evidence from any witness he deemed fit and relevant to the matter on hand to enable him reach his conclusions.

“I find therefore the present application lacks merit and has failed in its entirety. It is accordingly dismissed.”

Justice Okunnu had declared that although the coroner’s court cannot be sued, Chief Magistrate Komolafe himself could be sued in his capacity as a coroner.

The trial judge stated further that the court needed to resolve the issue as to whether the coroner has acted contrary to the rules of natural justice by not granting the applicants a fair hearing, and whether he has exceeded his jurisdiction as a coroner court.

SCOAN in its suit before Justice Okunnu, brought pursuant to Order 40 Rule 5 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure Rules) 2012 and signed by one O.M Abimbola had prayed the High Court for, “An order of prohibition, against the Coroner’s Court of Lagos State and the presiding Magistrate Komolafe from exceeding their jurisdiction in the conduct of coroner’s inquest into the death of unknown persons in the collapsed building within the premises of SCOAN on September 12, 2014.

“An order of Certiorari to quash the proceedings of the 1st and 2nd respondents in the conduct of the coroner’s inquest into the death of unknown persons in the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Ikotun Egbe, Lagos on 12th September, 2014 in suit number CR/AL/01/2014 concerning matters, issues and circumstances other than what directly caused the death of the victims and the manner of their death for having been conducted without or in excess of the statutory jurisdiction of the 1st and 2nd respondents.

“A declaration that the decision of the coroner to summon the applicants to give evidence at a time when no materials were placed before the coroner against the applicants is a breach of the applicants’ right to fair hearing.

“A declaration that the coroner who relied on his personal knowledge of the facts of the case is not a proper person to preside at the inquest into the death of people at the collapsed building of Synagogue Church of All Nations.

“A declaration that the coroner who relied on extraneous matters not borne out of the records to reach his conclusion that the 2nd applicant is a necessary witness when in fact is not, is in breach of the rules of natural justice and fair hearing guaranteed by the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“An order prohibiting the coroner from conducting further inquest/proceedings relating to the construction of the collapsed building which facts are clearly outside the scope of a coroner’s inquest.

“An order quashing the proceedings of the coroner’s inquest in its entirety for being conducted in breach of the rule of natural justice, likelihood of bias, and for taking proceedings clearly outside the scope of the jurisdiction of the respondent.

“An order prohibiting the respondent from insisting on the personal attendance of the 2nd applicant as such will be without or in excess of jurisdiction, unconstitutional and unlawful.

“An order of injunction to restrain the respondents as presently constituted from further conducting any inquest into the collapsed building of Synagogue Church of All Nations, as the 2nd respondent has demonstrated personal interest in the subject matter and his neutrality clearly compromised.

“An order of injunction restraining coroner from taking and continuing to take evidence/proceedings on the issue of approval and construction of the collapsed building, which issues are clearly outside the scope of a coroner’s inquest.”

Meanwhile, at Thursday sitting, a Deputy Director in charge of planning and design from the Lagos State Ministry of Works, Engineer Tunde Lasoju confirmed that a physical assessment of the foundation of the collapsed guest house did not show any sign of stress.”The foundation of the collapsed guest house did not show any form of punching or sharing.”

But a witness from the Council for the Regulation of Engineers in Nigeria (COREN), Engineers Victor Oyenuga, maintained that the conclusion of the team that investigated the cause of the collapsed guest house shows that the building must have failed, as a result of undersizing of the foundation and weak columns.

March 12, 2015
Synagogue foundation was faulty, says Lagos govt

The foundation of the last September 12 Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) collapsed building was faulty, the Lagos State government told a Coroner yesterday.

Saheed Ariyori, a consultant to Lagos State Material Testing Agency, told the Coroner, Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, that the “building failed because the base that was supposed to take the load was grossly inadequate”.

He was testifying at the resumed hearing of the coroner inquest into the incident in which 115 persons mostly South Africans died.

His evidence varies to that of his fellow engineer, Oladele Ogundeji, who said last Friday that the foundation met approved standard.

Ogundeji, who supervised the construction for the contractor, Hardrock Construction and Engineering Limited, ruled out foundational defect as a possible cause of the collapse.

Yesterday, Ariyori, led in evidence by counsel to the government, Akingbolahan Adeniran, said he was part of the team of structural and geo-technical engineers that carried out Structural Integrity Test on the building after its collapse.

He said the team took samples of the materials for testing and also took measurements of the foundation bases.

The team, he said, simulated the building to arrive at its conclusions because the church did not provide the designs.

Ariyori demonstrated the defects of foundation before the court with calculations on a board using a marker after being provided with a copy of the structural design.

He said based on all the tests and the calculations, “we discovered that from inception, the building failed because the base that was supposed to take the load was grossly inadequate

“The minimum base that will be required should have been 4.5 metres by 4.5 metres but what we had there was 2.2 metres by 2.2 metres.

“It was a wrong choice of foundation base. The foundation should have been continuous base and not a pad as was used in the construction.”

He said the load on the foundation was far more than it could bear, hence the collapse.

SCOAN’s counsel Olalekan Ojo urged the court to adjourn his cross-examination of the witness to enable him consult with his client’s engineers.

According to him, there are some discrepancies in the building design which must be examined before the witness is cross-examined.

He recalled that Ogundeji last Friday testified that a raft foundation was not ideal for the structure.

Chief Magistrate Komolafe will visit the site tomorrow. Ariyori’s cross-examination will also come up tomorrow.

March 5, 2015
‘Synagogue building foundation was faulty’

Lagos State Coroner Court heard on Wednesday that the foundation of a collapsed Synagogue Church of All Nations’ building was faulty.

A structural engineer and consultant with the Lagos State Material Testing Agency, Mr. Saheed Ariyori, stated this in his testimony before the court presided by Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe.

Ariyori’s testimony was however contradictory to that of a structural engineer who supervised the construction of the building, Engr. Oladele Ogundeji.

Ogundeji told the coroner on Friday that the foundation of the ill-fated building was built to standard.

The engineer, who said he had his training in Building Technology in Yugoslavia, had overruled foundational defect as a possible cause of the building collapse.

He told the court that after the collapse, an agency of the state, the Lagos State Material Testing Agency came to the site and instructed that three bases should be excavated.
He said,” They took some samples and carried out laboratory tests. They came out with the result, the concrete pad footing passed the test, the reinceforcement passed the test and the columns passed the test. Apart from this, the foundation on site that the six-storey building stood upon are still there, they are intact, no rotation and no tilting.”

But Ariyori insisted on Wednesday that the foundation was faulty.

The consultant, who was led by counsel to Lagos State government, Akingbolahan Adeniran, said he was part of the team of structural and geo-technical engineers that carried out a structural integrity test on the building after it collapsed.

He said the team took samples of materials used in the building to the laboratory for test and also took measurements of the foundation bases.

March 4, 2015
‘Collapsed Synagogue building not caused by structural defect’

The collapsed Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCAN) building was not caused by structural defects, Coroner Oyetade Comolafe has heard.

A consultant engineer, Oladele Ogundeji, who supervised the project, repudiated claims “that the collapse was caused by foundation defects,” saying: “The building had 28 columns.

Ogundeji, who works Hardrock Construction and Engineering Limited, said a soil test was conducted by a geo-technical engineer whose report informed the building design.

The coroner admitted the amended architectural and structural designs of the building, which were tendered through Ogundeji as exhibit.

Led in evidence by SCOAN’s counsel Mr Olalekan Ojo, Ogundeji told the coroner last Friday that he was trained in Building Technology and Building Engineering in Yugoslavia, adding: “I will not agree that the collapse was caused by structural defect. If it was a structural defect the collapse will be gradual. There will be cracks visible even to a layman.

“When I watched the CCTV footage, everything came down within four seconds. Speaking sincerely, I believe that it must have been induced scientifically but I don’t know the means.”

The direction and the speed of the fall of the building were not consistent with structural failure, adding: “According to the drawing and based on the geotechnical reports, the foundations were okay. This project is a technological cause, it can be verified.

“Now, when we were working on site, we did not envisage that something like this would happen but after the collapse, an agency of the state, the Lagos State Material Testing Agency came to the site, they instructed that three bases should be excavated, they took some samples and carried out laboratory tests. They came out with the result; the concrete pad footing passed the test, the reinceforcement passed the test and the columns passed the test. Apart from this, the foundation on site that the six-storey building stood upon are still there, they are intact, no rotation and no tilting.”

According to Ogundeji, despite the stress occasioned by the collapse, the foundation still passed the test conducted by the agency. The results, he said, were in the court’s custody.

When asked about the signs of a building that collapsed because of foundational compromise, Ogundeji said there would have been cracks in the foundation and the wall, adding that the building would have been tilting weeks before its collapse.

Illustrating with a schematic diagram, Ogundeji said: “If it is a structural failure, the whole building would not come down suddenly on no account and when it is coming down it would be gradual, it may take days, weeks or months and it can take 10 years and there will be cracks that even a layman will see it.”

The construction, the witness said, followed best practices, adding that though his client was responsible for the supply of building materials, he gave the specification and suggested the supplier.

He said Dangote cement was used for the construction, adding that every bag of cement procured was used within two weeks of manufacture because the storage room was small.

Ogundeji disagreed with the agency’s recommendation that a raft foundation should have been erected for the structure.

Under-cross examination by Mr Akingbolahan Adeniran, counsel to the Lagos State government, Ogundeji said certified designs were sufficient for the start of the project.

Hearing resumes today.

March 2, 2015
Synagogue: Building collapse not caused by structural defect – Coroner

The Lagos coroner, Chief Magistrate Oyeatde Komolafe, heard on Friday that the September 12, 2014 building collapse at the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Ikotun, Lagos, was not caused by structural defects. The consultant engineer, Mr Oladele Ogundeji, who supervised the construction of the collapsed building made this known at the resumed sitting of the coroner court.

However, the court has admitted the amended architectural and structural designs of the building as exhibit.

Led in evidence by Synagogue’s counsel, Mr. Olalekan Ojo, the consultant told the court that he supervised Hardrock Construction and Engineering Limited, the firm which handled the project.

Ogundeji said that a soil test was conducted by a geo-technical engineer and that his report informed the design used for the building.

The building, according to him, was constructed in two phases beginning from July 2008 and was completed in September 2013.

“I will not agree that the collapse was caused by structural defect. If it was a structural defect, the collapse will be gradual. There will be cracks visible even to a layman.

“When I watched the CCTV footage, everything came down within four seconds. Speaking sincerely, I believe that it must have been induced scientifically, but I don’t know the means,” he added.

The witness said officials of the Lagos State Material Testing Agency came to the site and took samples of the materials for laboratory test after the incident.

He said the report released by the agency revealed that all concrete, reinforcement and columns of the building passed the agency structural integrity test.

Ogundeji, however, disagreed with the agency’s recommendation that a raft foundation should have been erected for the structure.

February 27, 2015