Synagogue produces manifest of victims

Synagogue

A Coronary Inquest into the building collapse at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) yesterday heard that the manifest of occupants had been filed.

The disclosure came 47 days after the incident occured, killing 116 people at the church’s headquarters in Ikotun, Lagos.

Issues surrounding the manifest had generated tension between the church and the Lagos State Chief Medical Examiner (CME) Prof. John Obafunwa, who on several occasions, alleged that the church refused to honour its request for the list to enable successful identification of the deceased.

At previous sittings of the Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe-led inquest, the court had emphasised the importance of the manifest to the process, directing the church to make same available to Obafunwa.

Led in cross-examination by one of the church’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo, Obafunwa had insisted that the preliminary report already tendered and adopted before the court is a reflection of his position on the result of the autopsy carried out on the dead victims.

Obafunwa informed the coroner that three pathologists team were on September 22, 2014 set up by him, ten days after the incident occurred.

“I carried out my functions at the Mainland Hospital at Yaba. We started carrying out autopsy on the dead victims at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) on September 23 and other locations on September 24, 2014.

“There is no way I can physically carryout autopsy on all the bodies. The bodies were embalmed immediately after they were deposited at the mortuary.

When asked when he first visited the scene of the disaster, Obafunwa said it was only on October 16 he visited, which was a guided tour.

“It is not my duty to take debris at the collapsed site. It was also not my duty to know whether there is any detonation at the site of the collapsed building.

Another witness, Ige Oladimeji, of the Nigerian Red Cross, said: “Synagogue provided ten ambulances to help evacuate casualties. In each of them, there were representatives of the church. Nobody prevented us from doing our job.

“Members of the church were so compassionate to ensure that lives were saved.

“On the second day of the incident, members of my team who worked round the clock confirmed to me that everything went well and more bodies were evacuated since I had left.”

The inquest continues today with the South African Ambassador, the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) expected to give evidence.

Also the coroner rejected arguments from founder of the church, Prophet T.B. Joshua’s lawyers that the televangelist should not be summoned because he did not directly witness the September 12 tragedy.

“The court has the power to summon whoever it deems necessary to assist it

“The counsel should advise the Prophet to come. The church is not on trial. It’s not a matter of ego. Nobody is above the law. The court will be fair to all.

“If he is an institution with immunity, the court will not even go there. If the man refuses to come, he can be arrested… He has to appear. We summoned the Prophet. We summoned the contractors.”