Article written by freelance Synagogue Church reporter, Ihechukwu Njoku. Read below...
Nigerian Prophet T.B. Joshua has launched a scathing attack against the
verdict of the coroner’s court in Lagos yesterday which ruled the tragic
collapse of a building within his church last year was due to
structural failure.
"The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations rejects the verdict of the coroner
on the grounds that it is unreasonable, one-sided and biased,” a
statement released via their official Facebook page read, attributed to
Barr. Olalekan Ojo, lead counsel to The SCOAN.
“The church maintains its stand that the incident was as a result of
sabotage,” the statement continued, further adding that the public
should not be misled by media reports casting sensational headlines
suggesting the church was liable for prosecution over ‘criminal
negligence’.
The statement highlighted that no evidence was found that The SCOAN
hired incompetent professionals or used substandard materials in the
construction of the building.
“There was no finding that connected the incident with the lack of a
building permit,” the statement proceeded, adding that the process of
procuring the necessary approval was well underway and had been assessed
and accepted by relevant government agencies before the incident.
“The church disagrees most vehemently with the finding that the incident
was due to structural failure,” continued the strongly worded
statement, insisting the verdict failed to consider substantial evidence
which pointed to sabotage and ruled out structural failure.
“It was a one-sided verdict which left many issues unaddressed and
questions unanswered.”
The SCOAN highlighted that the verdict failed to even recognise the CCTV
footage released by the church which showed “the 6-storey building
falling in less than 4 seconds – a manner consistent with controlled or
externally induced demolition”.
It concluded by stating that Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe’s
admission “that the conduct of the investigation of the incident was
compromised... calls into question the integrity and reliability of the
entire investigation.”
Joshua’s supporters were vocal in their support of the ‘prophet’ in the
thousands of comments posted beneath the statement, many insisting the
verdict was the work of ‘the devil’.
“If you bury a lie, it will rot. If you bury the truth, it will rise,”
wrote Opeyemi Oduwole. “We South Africans know what happened to the
building; we know the truth. No matter how they lie, the truth will
prevail,” added Bridget Mkhonto.
Joshua followed up on the statement by posting a video on Facebook
highlighting the differences between controlled demolition and
structural failure with the caption, “No matter how fast a lie runs, the
truth will someday overtake it.”
