Synagogue: Nigerians Pick Holes In Coroner’s Verdict, Ask Probe Of Hovering Aircraft

A cross section of Nigerians from different walks of life have faulted the verdict of the coroner investigating the cause of death of 116 persons who perished in the unfortunate incident of the building collapse at The Synagogue, Church of All Nations, Ikotun-Egbe, Lagos.

According to  them, the verdict of the coroner smacks of the highest level of bias and an attempt to frame the man of God, Prophet T.B. Joshua whom they described as a shining light in the midst of a troubled world.

Engineer Johnson Solomon, a Petro-chemical expert from Delta state while speaking to journalists in Effunrun, observed that the ruling of the coroner was clearly premeditated and jaundiced based on its refusal to take into consideration certain issues that suggested a possible sabotage.

According to him, it is strange that in spite of the police evidence that the building collapse could have been as a result of external sabotage, Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe still went ahead to indict the church and its contractor.

Engineer Solomon further stated that the outcome of the coroner is purely an expression of the magistrate’s ill-feelings against the ministry of Prophet T.B. Joshua.

In the same vein, Senior Apostle Bamidele Ogunyemi of the Over-comers’ Evangelical Mission, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, noted that the coroner’s ruling was pre-planned to unduly rubbish the image of Prophet T.B. Joshua and his ministry.

The cleric who said he had been attending the coroner’s proceeding at the Ikeja High Court, submitted that the body language of the presiding magistrate from the first day of the inquest showed that he was biased against the Synagogue, Church of All Nations.

He thereafter warned that people should desist from the habit of persecuting men of God as it could spell untold doom for the entire country even though he agreed that a Prophet is without honour in his own country.

For Major General Mohammed Daura (retired.), he expected a thorough investigation of the aircraft that hovered round the building before it collapsed. According to him, the coroner’s failure to dig deep into the aircraft theory is an indication that the truth is being swept under the carpet.

The retired army officer who spoke from his base in Kaduna said that he is interested in the case because of the great things Prophet T.B. Joshua has been doing for the less-privileged all over the world, especially those from northern Nigeria.

He observed that the man of God is unequalled in the display of love to the world in an era of selfish religiosity, tribal and racial considerations. He described Prophet T.B. Joshua as an exemplar of God’s unconditional love.

From her own perspective, Prophetess Nkiruka Omekagu, General Overseer of the Adonai Prophetic Ministries, no amount of falsehood against a Prophet of God can stand the test of time.

Citing the experiences of Biblical figures like Elijah and Jesus, she concluded that human judgment is vanity. According to her, Prophet T.B. Joshua remains a Christian role model worthy of emulation but wondered why he is been haunted for doing good to his people. She warned that God’s wrath could fall on all those who are trying to trouble the man of God.

Meanwhile, the Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) has rejected the verdict of the coroner on the grounds that it is unreasonable, one-sided and biased. The church maintains its stand that the incident was as a result of sabotage.

From the verdict given today, we would like the public to take note of the following:

There was no finding that the church engaged the services of unqualified or incompetent professionals for the construction of the building.

There was no finding that the church procured substandard materials for the construction of the building, as confirmed by officials of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) who gave evidence at the coroner and certified the materials used were all approved and of good quality.

There was evidence that the church had started processing the relevant building approval before the incident, which had been approved and assessed for payment by the appropriate government bodies.

There was no finding that connected the incident with the lack of a building permit.

There was no finding that church members prevented the statutory responders from carrying out their rescue duties.

The church disagrees most vehemently with the finding that the incident was due to structural failure.

The church considers it strange that the coroner did not refer in its verdict to the evidence of the COREN-registered structural engineer and contractor used by the church nor did it evaluate the conflicting evidence given by civil and structural engineers as to whether or not the incident was as a result of structural failure.

It was a one-sided verdict which left many issues unaddressed and questions unanswered.

The church disagrees with the findings concerning the aircraft that hovered over the six-storey building because there was evidence before the court that the incident could have been brought about by external forces such as controlled demolition or an explosion.

The verdict did not even refer to the CCTV footage which showed the 6-storey building falling in less than 4 seconds – a manner consistent with controlled or externally induced demolition – nor did it refer to the interim report and investigation by the Nigerian police force which pointed to sabotage by external forces.

The church also disagrees with the finding that foundation failure was a remote cause because that is contrary to the overwhelming expert evidence of the structural engineers invited to the coroner who eliminated foundation failure as a possible cause.

The recommendation for the investigation and prosecution of the contractors and structural engineers used by the church for criminal negligence is premature because it gives the impression the coroner has found them guilty when a coroner is not allowed in law to make any finding of civil or criminal liability against anybody.

The recommendation for the investigation of The SCOAN for not possessing the relevant building permits is unwarranted because it did not take into account the evidence that the church had started processing the relevant building approval before the incident. As a matter of fact, the amount payable for the processing had already been assessed by the appropriate government agencies.

The recommendation that statutory responders should be adequately equipped was informed by the fact that the statutory responders who carried out rescue operations in this case were ill-equipped and ill-trained, and that it was the church that mobilised human and material resources to ensure a successful rescue operation.

Finally, the coroner recognised that the conduct of the investigation of the incident was compromised by the failure of the appropriate government agencies to take necessary steps to secure and preserve the scene of the incident, which calls into question the integrity and reliability of the entire investigation.

This is a statement from Barr. Olalekan Ojo, legal counsel to The SCOAN, “We repeat: No matter how long a lie is sustained, the truth will someday prevail!”