. Adjourns arraignment till December 11
Lagos State Government on Monday filed 111-count charge against Registered Trustees of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) and the engineers that allegedly constructed a building that collapsed and killed 116 people, mostly South Africans, on September 12 last year. The charge was filed before an Ikeja High Court presided by Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo.
The Senior Pastor of the church, Prophet T.B Joshua, is one of the trustees whose arraignment were expected on Monday, but Justice Lawal-Akapo t adjourned the case due to the absence of four out of the five defendants in court on Monday.
It was adjourned t till December 11, 2015 due to the state’s inability to serve three of the defendants.
At the proceedings on Monday, the judge observed that the second, third, fourth and fifth defendants were not in court to take their pleas.
The prosecuting counsel and Lagos State Attorney- General, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, told the court that some of them were yet to be served.
“We confirmed that Synagogue Trustees and the Hardrock Construction Company have been served.
“The other defendants in the matter could not be served because their addresses are not valid,” Kazeem said.
Counsel to the first and second defendants, Mr. Oluseun Abimbola, said the defendants were absent because of the non-service of the charge by the prosecution.
“The engineers, Ogundeji and Fatiregun, were even arrested by the Police and charged before a magistrate court where they were later released on bail.”
After listening to both counsel, Akapo advised the defence counsel to remind the defendants that the matter was a criminal one which was sensitive.
“Service in any proceeding is fundamental and anything done outside of this is a nullity.
“The defence counsel is hereby directed to oblige the prosecution team with valid addresses of the third, fourth and fifth defendants within 72 hours,” Akapo said.
A Coroner Inquest set up by Lagos State and presided over by Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, ruled on August 7, 2015, that SCOAN and its contractors were essentially negligent in the collapse of the six-storey guesthouse.
The defendants in the suit are: the Registered Trustees of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company, Jadny Trust Limited, Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun.
