Court fixes March 14 for further hearing in SCOAN collapsed building case

Justice Lawal Akapo, sitting at the Lagos High Court, Ikeja, has adjourned further hearing till March 14, 2019, in the case of the building collapse involving the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) that killed 116 worshipers of the church on September 12, 2014. The Lagos State government had sued Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, […]

Justice Lawal Akapo, sitting at the Lagos High Court, Ikeja, has adjourned further hearing till March 14, 2019, in the case of the building collapse involving the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) that killed 116 worshipers of the church on September 12, 2014.

The Lagos State government had sued Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, charged alongside their companies, Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Ltd, as defendants.

The defendants are facing a 110-count charge of involuntary manslaughter, while the Registered Trustees of SCOAN, the fifth defendant, was charged with one count of building without approval.

The Lagos State government alleged that the Trustees violated Section 75 of the Urban and Regional Planning Law of Lagos State, 2010.

They were all arraigned on April 19, 2016, but they pleaded not guilty.

At the resumed hearing on Friday, an aviation expert, Dr Yakubu Dazhia, informed the court that an aircraft flew “very close” to the SCOAN building soon before it collapsed, killing 116 people.

Dazhia, an aircraft engineer, aviation consultant and airline operator, said the plane had been identified as a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Hercules C130 training aircraft. He told Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo that the plane was captured on Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) flying well below the 1000 feet flight altitude recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Led in evidence by Olamilekan Ojo, counsel for the Registered Trustees of SCOAN, Dazhia told the court that the ICAO recommended safe altitude for flight in a congested area such as Ikotun Egbe, where the collapsed SCOAN building was located, was 1,000ft.