Amidst protests by the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) against the recent verdict of the coroner’s inquest conducted on the collapsed building in the church, the Lagos State Government has vowed that it would prosecute all the offenders identified by the Coroner, including the church. In a statement issued yesterday by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Mr. Habib Aruna, the governor said his government will uphold and enforce the sanctity of the law in the state, just as he urged residents to also respect the rule of Law.
According to Aruna, Ambode said that one of the provisions of the Coroner Law 2007 is the provision that empowers a Coroner to commence an inquest to find out the cause and manner of death which occur in an unusual manner, and that such was what the state did to constitute the coroner inquest into the September 12 building collapse within the church.
He added that the Coroner’s verdict of 7th July 2015 made a number of recommendations which the state government will act upon accordingly.
The statement reads; “His Excellency hereby reiterates his government’s commitment to uphold and enforce the sanctity of the law in the state and calls on all Lagos resident to respect the rule of law.”
“The state government will cause the prosecution of the contractor, Engineer Akinbela Fatiregun of Hardrock Engineering Company Limited and Structural Engineer, Oladele Ogundeji who constructed and supervised the collapsed building respectively at the Synagogue Church of All Nations for professional negligence.”
The statement added that the governor will also be committed to the prosecution of “the Synagogue Church of All Nations for neglecting to obtain building approval before commencing the building, contrary to the provisions of the Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2010.”
Ambode, therefore, appealed to residents of the state to always allow emergency responders perform their duties of emergency professionally just as he enjoined land owners within the state who intend to embark on construction to employ the services of qualified and competent engineers who must obtain building permit before construction.
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