A witness in the ongoing matter filed by the Lagos State Government against the Synagogue Church of all Nations (SCOAN), over the collapsed building that killed 116 worshipers in the church on September 12, 2014, Architect Dayo Olatunbosun Fabiyi, has told a Lagos High Court sitting in Igbosere that the SCOAN building was in generally good conditions with no defections before its collapse. They are facing trial on a 110-count charge of involuntary manslaughter while the Registered Trustees of SCOAN were charged with a one-count charge of building without approval. They were accused of violating 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 and arraigned on April 19, 2016. However, during cross-examination by the state prosecutor, Dr Jide Martins, he affirmed that he was not involved in the investigation of the beams of the collapsed building but maintained that cracks and defections are always visible to the eyes. Ebenezer Ologuntoye had told the court that apart from foundational failure, other factors could be responsible for a building collapse and had said that scientific tests conducted on the foundation of the collapsed building indicated that the foundation of the building and the bearing capacity were adequate.

Source: Nigerian Tribune June 25, 2019 15:33 UTC