Church Collapse:T B Joshua Has A Case To Answer..Judge Insist

Justice Lateefa Okunnu of a Lagos High Court on Friday dismissed an application filed by the Synagogue Church of All Nations and its founder, Prophet Temitope Joshua against the Coroner's Inquest investigating the collapse of a six-storey building belonging to the church.
The judge dismissed the application, which was seeking to halt the ongoing coroner's inquest into the collapsed guest house for being premature and lacking in merit.
The Lagos State Government 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.
The coroner's inquest presided over by Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe had summoned Prophet Joshua alongside others to appear before it to testify in the ongoing inquest.
But instead of appearing as summoned, T.B Joshua and his church instituted a suit against the coroner's court and the presiding Magistrate, Komolafe, seeking a judicial review of the coroner's inquest into the September 12, 2014 collapse.
They had in the application dated November 11, 2014 and marked ID/188MJR/2014 asked the court to declare that the coroner had exceeded the jurisdiction of a coroner's court by delving into areas that were beyond its scope.
Specifically, SCOAN through its counsel, Chief Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) had prayed the court to stay further proceedings of the inquest and suspend further actions on his (Joshua's) invitation to appear to give evidence before it, pending the determination of his suit against Komolafe before the High Court.
Fagbemi had asked the court to determine whether the witness summons served on Joshua to appear before the coroner did not constitute an infringement on his right to fair hearing.
Komolafe was also accused of being bias and demonstrating a personal interest in the matter.
The respondent's counsel, Mr. Akinjide Bakare urged the court to dismiss the application, arguing that the coroner had extensive powers to investigate the cause and circumstances of death and report to the appropriate authorities.
He said in order to determine the cause of death, the coroner has the latitude to summon any witness and investigate issues pertaining to building approval, soil testing and materials used in the construction of the collapsed building.
Ruling on the application yesterday, Justice Okunnu while resolving all the issues raised in favour of the coroner held that although the coroner's court cannot be sued, but Komolafe himself can be sued in his capacity as a coroner.
According to her, the court needed to resolve the issue whether the coroner has acted contrary to the rules of natural justice by not granting the applicants a fair hearing and whether he has exceeded the scope of a coroner's court.
Okunnu said Sections 26 and 27 of the Coroner's System Law of Lagos State 2007, empowered the coroner to summon any witness to assist him in his fact-finding mission, adding that there was nothing unusual in the summons extended to Joshua.
The judge said there was no evidence before the court that the coroner had been biased against the applicant and therefore dismissed the suggestion.
She also held that Komolafe as a coroner had the prerogative to take evidence from any witness he deemed relevant to reaching his conclusions.
"I find therefore the present application lacks merit and has failed in its entirety. It is accordingly dismissed," Okunnu said.
Meanwhile, at the resumed sitting of the Coroner's Inquest yesterday, a Structural Engineer and Consultant to the Lagos State Material Testing Agency, Saheed Ariyori, revealed that he was not a professional in sub-soil investigations.
Ariyori who being cross-examined by counsel to SCOAN, Mr. Olalekan Ojo, further confirmed that he did not participate in the generation of the sub-soil investigation report already tendered before the court.
Ariyori had on Wednesday, March 4, 2015 told the coroner that the six-storey building collapsed due to faulty foundation.
The witness however confirmed that there were errors in his calculations made before the court on March 4.
According to him, he only authored the report based on what he read. He also admitted that he prepared it overnight due to the urgency of the matter.
"We did integrity test on the rubbles that collapsed. The report showed that the concrete used on the collapsed building was good.
"Our investigation report did not show that there were signs of stress on the foundation of the collapsed building.
Further hearing on the inquest has been adjourned till March 12, 2015.