SYNAGOGUE INQUEST: SYMPATHISERS STORM COURT IN TB JOSHUA’s DEFENCE

Sympathisers of  Prophet T. B. Joshua, founder of the Synagogue Church Of All Nations(SCOAN), stormed the Lagos High Court, on Monday when the coroner making inquest into the collapsed structure on the church premises began sitting.Carrying placards with various inscriptions, the overall message was that TB Joshua is not guilty of any offence in the incident and therefore called for his exoneration.At the court, none of the family members of the deceased was present, but in attendance were representatives from the Lagos State government, the SCOAN, the Red Cross and some members of the civil society.

Consoling the bereaved families, the presiding magistrate, Mr Oyetade Komolafe said,” “We all have the same interest here, as we are all Africans. What happened in SCOAN can happen anywhere in the world. I commiserate with the families of those who lost loved ones in the unfortunate incident, but I am appealing to the families of the deceased to make themselves available for DNA tests, so that the bodies can be adequately identified. We are not after any booty, as it were as things most be done according to the law, without sacrificing justice on the altar of speed. This inquest in aimed at finding the root cause of the incident and give recommendations to avert further occurrences.

“I empathise with the families of the victims, but I want to seize this opportunity to state the importance of the DNA to this inquest. The medical team and pathologists are working because the court has directed them to carry out the activities and report back. It is important for the South African Embassy to ensure that relatives of the victims come forward for the pathologists to get the needed samples to compare with the bodies. The corpses have to be properly identified and when that is done and the process completed, the bodies would be released to the South African government.”

In his opening remarks, SCOAN’s counsel, Lateef Fagbemi, commiserated with the families of the deceased: “There will be many witnesses, because this is a multi-dimensional case. There is the need to consider the front loading witnesses. There is also the need to frontload the evidence of many experts with relevant documents”. The case has been adjourned till October 24.

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About Unknown

Deji Sadiq, a.k.a DEJI OF LAGOS is a LASU trained Economist turned freelance journalist, a Blogger, an information strategist, a public affairs analyst and a committed activist with a passion for equal opportunities.