Low turnout stalls hearing in The Synagogue collapsed building suit

LAGOS State Coroner Court sitting in Ikeja on the cause of collapse of the six-storey building belonging to The Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) could not continue hearing yesterday due to low turnout of lawyers and interested parties.

   Following this, Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, who presided, adjourned continuation of hearing till the 17th of this month‎. Komolafe had earlier expressed the court’s readiness to see to the end of the matter in two weeks’ time and charged lawyers and interested parties not to delay proceedings.

   The court should have resumed hearing on January 6, 2015 but for the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) industrial action.

   At the last adjourned date, December 23, 2014, the National Executive Coordinator of Life Savers Foundation (LSF), Mrs. Fola Shoetan, had informed the court that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) were not well equipped to manage disaster situations in the country.

   Also in his testimony, SCOAN’s Chief Security Officer (CSO), Sunday Okogie, confirmed that both NEMA and LASEMA officials were not prevented from rescuing people trapped under the rubbles of the collapsed guesthouse.

   The CSO, who submitted the unedited Close Circuit Television (CCTV) footages of the incident from September 12 to 16, 2014, argued that the recordings contradicted their claims.