Synagogue Collapsed Building: Court Fixes April 24 for Adoption, Final Written Address

By Alex Olise/  

A Lagos High Court sitting in Igbosere has fixed April 24, for the hearing of adoption and final written addresses on the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) collapsed-building trial.

The Lagos State Government had sued SCOAN over the building collapse which killed 116 worshipers of the church on September 12, 2014.

The defendants in the case are two engineers Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun and their companies Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Ltd.

They are facing trial on 110-count charge of involuntary manslaughter, while the Registered Trustees of SCOAN were charged with building without approval. 

The Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions accused the defendants of violating Section 75 of the Urban and Regional Planning Law of Lagos State, 2010, as well as Section 222 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

They were arraigned on April 19, 2016, but they pleaded not guilty.

At the resumed hearing of the trial on Friday, the Lagos State prosecutor, Dr Jide Martins, told the court that the business for the day was to pick a date for adoption and final written addresses.

However, Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo ordered that the defence counsel should file and adopt their final written addresses within 14 days.

He also ordered the prosecution to file and adopt their written addresses within 21 days, adding that the defence should reply within seven days from now.

The Judge said, “The defence counsel shall file and adopt their written addresses within 14 days from now; the prosecution shall also file and adopt its final written addresses and the defence is to reply within seven days from now.”

Consequently Justice Lawal-Akapo, adjourned the case until April 24, for adoption and final written addresses.

At the last adjourned date on December 20, 2019, the defendants closed their case, after the cross examination of their last witness by the prosecution.

The last witness, Professor of structural engineering, Patrick Nwankwo, during cross-examination by the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution, Mr Yhaqub Oshoala, told the court that the mode of collapse of SCOAN Guest House negated the characteristics of collapsed building with structural defects.

“Any defective building whether emanating from under or over reinforcement, poor constructional materials among others will have a ductile type of collapse.

“That of Synagogue Guest House was too catastrophic and such could only have been caused by an external factor”.

Asked by counsel to fourth defendant, Olalekan Ojo (SAN) what he meant by “the type of collapse”, Nwankwo said: “if defective or substandard materials were used, the mode of collapse would be ductile and gradual.”

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