by Godwin Akanfe

Following the guest house building collapse on 12 September, at the Synagogue Church of All Nations, the Lagos State Government has set up a coroner of inquest to investigate the cause of the tragedy.

On Sunday, 28 September, a statement to this effect was released by the office of the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, which revealed that a coroner’s inquest pursuant to Section 15 of the Lagos State Coroner’s System Law No. 7 of 2007, had been instigated.

Magistrate O. A. Komolafe, is expected to head the coroner of inquest, which has been charged with the task of establishing the cause of the collapse of Synagogue’s six-storey building that killed no fewer than 115 persons.

According to the statement by Ipaye, the final submission of the inquest may warrant the filing of a criminal charge against T.B Joshua’s church.

The commissioner’s release said, “The law requires the verdict of a coroner, as certified in writing, to be forwarded to the State Attorney General and such verdict may form the basis of criminal prosecution depending on the evidence collected.”

“The coroner in this case is Magistrate O. A. Komolafe, who also sat as coroner in the Dana Air Crash case. He is expected to announce his sitting or visitation schedules and other details and to hold the inquest at the premises of the High Court of Lagos State, Oba Akinjobi Way, Ikeja.”

“In doing this, he (Komolafe) has all the powers of a magistrate to summon and compel the attendance of witnesses, including medical examiners, and require them to give evidence, produce documents or present other relevant materials,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, the families of the 84 South African victims who died in the collapse, have expressed the likelihood of instituting a class action against T.B Joshua, while several politicians from the country have also urged the South African government to sue the Synagogue church over the incident.

The Lagos State Government had earlier instituted a committee to look into the issue of rampant collapse of buildings in the state. The brief of the committee was to unravel the causes of the problem and come up with recommendations within three months.

The chairperson of the tribunal of enquiry, Mrs Abimbola Ajayi, while submitting the report, described the situation as disturbing, saying a holistic approach was urgently needed to arrest the development. Ajayi said that 130 cases were recorded before the tribunal was inaugurated while five buildings collapsed after it was set up.

While accepting the eight volume report, Fashola commended the tribunal for the effort and pledged strict implementation of the committee’s recommendations.

Kolapo Olapoju