I Don’t Know Of Any Report On Synagogue Building Collapse Deaths, ACP Tells Court
An Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Alaba Yahaya Haruna, on Thursday informed a Lagos State High Court sitting in Igbosere that he do not know if the police concluded their investigation on the collapsed building belonging to Synagogue Church of All Nation (SCOAN) in which about 116 worshippers died.
ACP Haruna, who was the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the Ikotun Egbe Police Station, Lagos when the tragic incident occurred, said that although the Inspector General of Police set up a panel to investigate collapsed building, he cannot say whether the panel submitted a report.
The police officer disclosed this while testifying at the going trial of the Registered Trustees of the church and the two engineers that constructed the collapsed building.
The Lagos State government is prosecuting the church and the engineers, Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun on a 111 count charges of criminal negligence, manslaughter and failure to obtain building permit.
One hundred and Sixteen persons, mostly foreigner on religious tourism to Nigeria, were killed in the tragic incident that occurred on September 12, 2014.
Other defendants in the case are: Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Limited.
The Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions said the defendants violated 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, all pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Haruna, who is a defence witness, while being cross examined by the Lagos State counsel, Dr Babajide Martins, before Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo said that the Inspector General of Police set up panel to looked into the incident.
He said, “Police at SCID Panti also carried out investigation into this matter. We had commenced preliminary investigation before Panti carried out their own investigation. I don’t know if the police concluded their investigation on the collapsed building.”
Earlier in his testimony in-chief, the witness stated “I was in my office when I got message from my patrol team who observed an aircraft flying low over a Synagogue Church. Before I got to the scene, they said the building has collapsed.”
“On that fateful day on September 12, 2014 at about 12:30 hours, there was a radio communication from the police control room at Ikeja that they were receiving calls from the public of an aircraft flying at low altitude over the church. I was directed by the Area Command to confirm the incident and monitor the aircraft’s activities.
“I direct my men to watch out for the aircraft when I received another report of an airplane flying at a very low altitude. I went outside but I couldn’t see it, by that time it had gone. I received a call later from Inspector Lucky Ugbaja, stationed at the church, that one of the church’s buildings had collapsed.”
According to him, the radio room had earlier radioed the Police Airport Command to confirm whether it was carrying out any activity in the SCOAN vicinity.
Haruna further said when he arrived at the church’s premises there was a large crowd and the few policemen there were trying to manage the situation. More onlookers kept trooping in and the crowd spilled to the roads outside the church, causing serious traffic gridlock.
“We were overwhelmed that we called for more policemen, which was provided.”
He said his men cordoned off the scene in an attempt to restrict entrance to only those who could assist the church members and other worshippers in the rescue operation.
He said the floors of the collapsed building were lying one on the other and the church members and others at the scene were engaged in rescue operations.
“Those I met there were SCOAN worshippers, they were bringing out so many people from under the rubble. Most of the victims were alive. Some were injured, some were not.
“Later the Red Cross, Life Savers, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) arrived and joined us in the rescue.”
The witness stated that the LASEMA General Manager complained of difficulty in gaining access to the scene of the collapse because of the crowd and that the journalists in his entourage were denied access, following which he apologised and ordered his men to let the journalists in.
He added that the rescue mission lasted about seven days.
Justice Lawal-Akapo, adjourned the case to October 4, for continuation of trial.
