lagos —Baring any unforeseen circumstances, the
coroner inquest into the Synagogue collapse
building will today deliver its final verdict at the
Coroner court, Ikeja.
TB Joshua-Synagogue Church
The coroner court, presided over by Chief
Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, fixed the July date
after parties in the quest had adopted their final
written addresses earlier submitted to the court.
The Lagos State Government had inaugurated the
Coroner’s Inquest under the state Coroner’s
System Law No.7 of 2007 to investigate the
cause and circumstances resulting in the death of
166 people following the building collapse of
September 12, 2014, and bring its findings and
recommendations to the appropriate authorities.
For the period the inquest lasted, the General
Overseer and founder of Synagogue, Prophet
Temitope Joshua, who was summoned by the
coroner refused to show up.
Instead, Joshua challenged the jurisdiction of the
court by filing an application dated November 11,
2014 and marked ID/188MJR/2014 before the
High Court, seeking a judicial review of the
Coroner’s Inquest into the September 12, 2014
collapse.
He had asked the court to declare that the
coroner had exceeded its court jurisdiction by
delving into areas beyond its scope.
Even though Justice Lateefa Okunnu dismissed
Joshua’s application, the clergy did not still
appear before the coroner court as his counsel
filed an appeal to challenge the high court’s
ruling.
In his final address, counsel to SCOAN, Mr.
Olalekan Ojo insisted that the church cannot be
blamed for the collapse.
Lagos State Government in its submission urged
the inquest to be guided by section 40 of the
Coroners Law which bestows on it the role to find
out who the deceased are, when and how they
died.
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