Judiciary
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The Lagos State government coroner’s inquest into the collapse of the guest house belonging to T.B. Joshua, founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations has started its investigations into the incident
| By Anayo Ezugwu | Oct. 27, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT |
IN its quest to unravel the mystery behind the building collapse at the Synagogue Church of All Nations, SCOAN, on September 12, the coroner inquest set up by the Lagos State government, on Thursday, October 16, visited the scene of the incident. Oyetade Komolafe, the coroner magistrate, said the purpose of the visit was to get a physical view of where the collapse occurred in order to assist the inquest in its conclusions. “Like I said at the inaugural sitting, we are not here on a witch-hunt or to convict anybody. We are here for a fact-finding purpose and how we can ascertain the cause of the incident,” he said.
Komolafe directed the church to provide the state forensic team with the list of people lodged at the collapsed building to assist in identifying victims. “We want to be able to identify all the victims because those bodies will not be released to their relatives if we cannot identify them. Or they will be given mass burial, which is not appropriate.”
On his part, John Obafunwa, chief medical director, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, presented a formal letter addressed to the church, requesting for the manifest of the people lodged in the collapsed building. He said the document was needed for proper identification of the victims. “In an investigation of this nature, we need to carry out our own tests. DNA analysis will not give you a name. There is nothing wrong with what we are asking for,” he said.
Responding, Lateef Fagbemi, counsel of the church, said the DNA of all the families involved in the incident was submitted to the pathologists more than two weeks ago. He reiterated that the church was ready to cooperate with the inquest to unravel the cause of the building collapse, adding that the said manifest would be provided by his client.
At the inaugural sitting of the coroner in Ikeja, on Monday, October 13, Komolafe said the cooperation of the South African embassy would facilitate the identification of the corpses, especially the South Africans involved in the building collapse. He noted that it was only after proper identification of the corpses that they could be released to their relatives.
“I want to seize this opportunity to state the importance of the DNA to this inquest. The medical team and pathologists are working because the court has directed them to carry out the activities and report back. It is important for the South African embassy to ensure that relatives of the victims come forward for the pathologists to get the needed samples to compare with the bodies. Those corpses have to be properly identified and when that is done and the process completed, the bodies will be released to the South African government and they can take them home,” he said.
According to Komolafe, the mission of the coroner was not to convict anyone but to identify the cause of the building collapse in order to forestall a future recurrence. He called on the listed witnesses to ensure appearance, adding that the coroner would not hesitate to invoke its power against any of the witnesses who failed to show up. “We categorically assure that there is no adversary. We are not accusing the Synagogue Church of All Nations, no. That is not why we are here.”
He added: “The court is looking at Thursday this week when all of us will visit the site of the collapsed building and we want to address the Synagogue Church of All Nations. Please make available your CCTV to the court. The clips; we want to see it because as big as the church is I want to believe that they have CCTV. So we want to see what actually happened,” Komolafe said.
The coroner Judge equally appealed to all those who failed to appear at the inaugural sitting to appear before the court at the next adjournment. He listed them to include the National Emergency Management Authority, NEMA, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Office of the Lagos State Surveyor General and Lagos State Emergency Management Authority, LASEMA. He directed all counsels to submit all the documents and evidences they intend to file and for responses to be made before the next adjourned date on October 24.
Meanwhile, people with disabilities under the auspices of the Disabled Welfare Organisation also thronged the coroner’s court. The disabled persons, who stood outside the courtroom, carried placards with different inscriptions, said they were in court to show support to the man of God. Gbolahan Jonah, national coordinator of the group, said his members were in court to express their concern over the incident and to stand by Joshua as he faced the coroner.
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