BREAKING NEWS, Crime
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THE planned arraignment of Temitope Balogun Joshua, senior pastor of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, SCOAN, and trustees of the church scheduled before a Lagos high court on Monday, November 30, could not hold after all.
The SCOAN trustees and two engineers who worked on a church building which collapsed and killed 116 on September 12, 2014, were scheduled appear before a Lagos high court to face criminal negligence for their role in the accident. But Joshua and the engineers failed to appear in court when the case was called, prompting Justice Lawal Akapo to adjourn the matter to December 11.
At the hearing on Monday, one member of the church’s trustees was present. The court was told the engineers, who unsuccessfully tried to obtain an injunction to prevent their arrest and prosecution, had not been served with a summons.
Disappointed by the development, Akapo said he would not tolerate any unnecessary delays of the trial. “It appears the defendants are not mindful that this is a criminal proceeding. This is a criminal trial and a sensitive matter like this one should be given accelerated hearing,” he said.
Before adjourning the case, the judge ordered the defence team to provide the court with the engineers’ addresses within 72 hours.
— Nov 30, 2015 @ 15:45 GMT
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