Lagos State Government Begins Prophet T.B Joshua's SCOAN Building Collapse Probe

 The Lagos State Government has set up a panel to probe the circumstances surrounding the collapse of a six-storey building belonging to the Synagogue Church of All of Nations will commence sitting on October 13, 2014.

 This was contained in a statement released by the Lagos State Ministry of Justice on Friday.

According to the statement, the coroner’s hearing will take place at the Coroner Court on the premises of the Ikeja Lagos State High Court. The coroner, to be headed by Magistrate O.A. Komolafe, is set up to determine the cause of the September 12, 2014 SCOAN building collapse that claimed no fewer than 115 lives.

On the coroner’s witness list are the:

 Lagos State Building Control Agency,

the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development,

the Lagos State Ministry of Works,

the Surveyor-General of the state,

the SCOAN building contractors,

the Standard Organisation of Nigeria and

the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism.

Also to testify are:

 the National Emergency Management Agency,

the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency,

the Nigerian Red Cross Society,

the Lagos State Fire Service and

the Lagos State Transport Management Authority.

Others are:

 the Nigerian Police Force,

 the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps,

the Chief Medical Director of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital,

the Chief Medical Examiner of the state and

officials of the Emergency Centre of the Igando General Hospital, Lagos State.

Various print and electronic media houses such as The PUNCH, The Nation, Daily Independent, The Vanguard, P.M. News, the News Agency of Nigeria, Channels Television and Television Continental are also expected to testify before the coroner of inquest.

 The General Overseer and founder of SCOAN, Pastor T. B. Joshua, families of the victims, an eyewitness, Lindiw Ndwande and the chairman of the Youth League’s International Relation Committee of South Africa, Mr. Rebone Tau, have also been listed as witnesses.

“Other members of the public who may have any information useful to the coroner and wish to give evidence or tender any material that will assist the court in its findings are also enjoined to indicate their interest by contacting the registrar at the Coroner’s Court, High Court premises, Ikeja, Lagos State between the hours of 8am and 4pm daily,” the statement said. Source

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Synagogue Denies Receiving Any Contravention Notice From Government Before Building Collapsed

 The Synagogue Church Of All Nations(SCOAN) yesterday denied reports that the collapsed 6-storey building was at one time sealed by the Lagos state government and a contravention notice served on the church.

 The church denied this reports in a statement they posted on their Facebook page... Reda below:

This is an official communication from The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations regarding some stories currently being reported in the media about the recent incident that happened in The SCOAN.

Our attention has been drawn to a publication in the Vanguard Newspaper of 26th September 2014 titled, ‘Synagogue: We Sealed Off Building Before Collapse – LSBCA’.

In the article, the General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, Mrs Abimbola Animashahun Odunayo was quoted as saying that the agency had sealed off the building before it collapsed and that the church ignored the warnings of the agency to stop construction. The story was initially published by online media portal News24.

We deem it necessary to state that the above publication is not true in that:

1. No contravention notice was served on the church before the collapse because there was no reason for the issuance of such notices.

2. The building had never been sealed off for any reason whatsoever before the collapse of 12th September, 2014.

3. At no time was any stop-work notice or directive served on the church or pasted on the building prior to 12th September, 2014.

We however wish to state that the letters that were written to the church by LSBCA were written after the collapse of 12/09/14 in the following order:

1. A letter dated 16/09/2014 Ref No. LASBCA/AL/PCA/DH/01 requesting for the submission of a development permit and approval of structures within the church complex, four days after the building collapsed.

2. A contravention notice dated 17/09/2014 Ref No. AL/LASBCA/DH/PCA/CN 06 alleging certain contraventions, five days after the building collapsed.

3. A letter dated 17/09/14 Ref No. AL/LASBCA/DH/PCA/CN 06 requesting for non-destructive tests for structural stability, five days after the building collapsed.

It must be noted that no sealing or quit notice has been served as the building never called for such.

In the above circumstances, we would like to believe that LSBCA has been quoted out of context with the motive of destroying the ongoing investigation into the case as well as casting doubt on the position of the church that the collapse was due to an attack.

Our attention was also drawn to a publication in Nigeria’s Guardian Newspaper of Friday 26th September 2014 titled, ‘Early Probe Report Indicates Compromise In Synagogue Building.’

The article quoted the Honourable Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Lagos State, Mr Toyin Ayinde, as saying that one of the columns or pillars of the collapsed building in the church measured 2 feet by 2 feet and that the reinforcement used for the same was 16mm.

This publication is also misleading and untrue. There is no doubt that it was calculated to give the impression that the collapse was due to structural defects as against the position of the church to the contrary.

We hereby request all the involved parties to take the necessary steps towards correcting such dangerous misinformation so as not to mislead the entire country and the international community.

We also urge the media to take necessary steps towards avoiding the publication of unconfirmed stories in future.

We should not pre-empt and interfere with the ongoing investigation.

The SCOAN

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South African Minister Discloses That Synagogue Building Collapse Death Toll Now At 115

 It's such a shame that we would have to be updated on a tragedy that happened in Nigeria by the South African government, just imagine.

 South African minister, Jeff Radebe today September 22nd, said that the death toll from the Synagogue building collapse has risen to 115.

 The minister disclosed this at an airforce base, North of Johannesburg in South Africa where 25 South Africans who were injured in the collapsed building were brought home in a military C-130 aircraft (pictured above) for treatment. He however maintained that 84 South Africans died in the tragedy.

"We understand from our assessment team that the total number of people who have perished is now 115, but those are not all South Africans. South Africans are about 84 that have died" Jeff Radebe told reporters.

The Nigerian Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, put the death toll from the collapse at 86.

The South African minister also said that 26 injured South Africans were meant to return back home today but one of them decided to stay back at the Synagogue church. A 19-member medical team including specialist doctors, nurses and medical military paramedics took care of the injured on board the military C-130 aircraft. Among those transported today included two orphaned toddlers whose parents died in the tragedy.

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Synagogue Building Collapse: Lagos State Government Moves Against T. B Joshua - Report

 The Lagos State Government has moved against the popular Synagogue Church of All Nations, at Ikotun, after one of its buildings collapsed last week killing at least 80 people including a 10-year-old kid with many others left critically injured.

The structure, which was under construction, was initially a two-storey building before the addition of four new floors which were under construction. As of Thursday, after NEMA announced that rescue work has ended, the death toll in the building collapse hit 80. Among the dead were 67 South Africans. 

According to Punch, the Lagos State Building Control Agency has, therefore, marked the main building of the church, asking for relevant documents to prove its structural integrity.

The General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency, Mrs. Abimbola Animashaun-Odunayo, who confirmed that the building had been marked by the agency in a phone interview with Saturday PUNCH, said it had requested that the church provides some documents, adding that a structural integrity test would be carried out on all the buildings in the church complex.

She said:

“X’ (the mark on the building) does not mean demolition; it is for structural integrity test to be carried out on the building and the church is expected to provide all the documents for approval and the church has three months to do this.”

Asked if the building would be demolished in case the church failed to meet the requirements within the time frame, Animashaun-Odunayo declined to make further comments.

“Look, it is still under investigation; I can’t say more than that. I don’t even know who I am talking with on the phone,” she said.

Meanwhile, diplomatic tensions between South Africa and Nigeria have escalated as the SA government struggles to get answers about the building collapse that killed the largest number of South Africans outside the country since the downing of the Helderberg airliner in 1987.

Pretoria’s diplomats are reportedly contending that “Nigeria is obsessed with its competitive attitude towards South Africa”. Here's what a disgusted senior South African government official involved in the mission to bring the bodies of their citizens home said to Mail & Guardian:

“The Nigerians have flatly refused our search and rescue missions, the same way they initially refused international assistance during the search for the missing girls. They feel that this could send a politically worrying message that they don’t have capacity. The reality is that our search and rescue teams and sniffer dogs are the best on the continent.  

Making matters worse is Nigeria’s culture of secrecy and superstition. You find even government officials believing in the cult of this prophet and not asking questions during such disasters. It’s unbelievable. But there is also an element of cover-up by [preacher TB] Joshua, because there is a possibility of litigation cases against him for negligence. 

The worst thing to note [is that] the Nigerian government has not issued any statement: no condolences to our government, nor to the families.”

SA's Department of international relations and co-operation spokesperson Clayson Monyela confirmed that South Africa has identified most of the bodies through passports, and that the government will work with family members to identify the remains of their loved ones. Source

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Synagogue Puts Building Collapse Death Toll At 80, As Rescue Operation Ends

 Rescue operation at Synagogue Church of All Nations site ended yesterday September 18th. NEMA officials say they are convinced that there are no more bodies at the site. 

 The death toll has been put at 80. NEMA says the next phase is for proper identification and retrieval of the bodies by families of the victims.

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Police To Use Sniffer Dogs To Help Locate More Trapped Victims At Synagogue Building Collapse Site

 The Nigerian Police Force will be sending sniffer dogs to the collapsed Synagogue building site to help search for more victims who are believed to still be trapped under the rubble. As of today, the death toll has risen to 45 with 130 survivors.

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