TheCable

T. B. Joshua, a prophet and founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), refused to comply with the directive of Oyetade Komolafe, a magistrate and the head of the coroner inquest investigating the collapsed building at the headquarters of the church.

The Lagos state government had directed the inquest to probe the incident, which claimed 116 lives, mainly foreigners, on September 12.

Since the inquest commenced on October 13, Joshua had not made any appearance, a move that was seen as an affront to the court.

Attempts to make him testify did not yield any positive result, prompting the coroner to issue an ultimatum of November 5 to the pastor.

“He should come and tell us what he knows. He cannot sit down there and be sending words to us,” Komolafe had said.

“Nobody is above the law. If the man refuses to come, he can be arrested… He has to appear. The counsel should advise the prophet to come. It’s not a matter of ego. The court will be fair to all.”

However, Joshua still failed to turn up during Wednesday’s proceedings, claiming that the coroner had not served him the witness summons.

“The bailiffs merely gave the witness summons to one of the evangelists in the church, but the law says they should personally serve the prophet,” Olalekan Ojo, Joshua’s counsel, said.

“I do not want an insinuation to be made that the prophet was served and he did not come to court.”

Ojo declined the coroner’s request that the summons should be served on him on behalf of Joshua.

Komolafe therefore decided to reschedule the appearance of the pastor.

Among those who testified was Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, head of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), who castigated the church for preventing rescue operations.

“Instead of allowing trained rescue workers with specialist equipment to search for survivors, only church members and volunteers were allowed to pick through the rubble,” he said.

“The first three days were marred by the so-called church sympathisers and the crowd. By the time we attained momentum after 96 hours, a lot of things had gone bad.”