NIGERIA-CHURCH/COLLAPSE INQUEST Nigeria coroner blames contractor for deadly church collapse

Record ID: 147955

  • Title: NIGERIA-CHURCH/COLLAPSE INQUEST Nigeria coroner blames contractor for deadly church collapse
  • Date: 8th July 2015
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEFENCE COUNSEL, OLALEKAN OJO, SAYING: "So as far as we are concerned, the church and prophet T.B. Joshua have been vindicated and they are victorious as far as I'm concerned. They did not patronise quacks, they did not disturb certain responders, they procured good materials. And they worked commendably where? Towards ensuring the rescue of the victi
  • Embargoed: 23rd July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVABU2ANQ919GJ2RM3XBAXXHK37
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A Nigerian coroner's court on Wednesday (July 8) delivered judgement on the 2014 church building collapse, which killed more than 110 people.
    Judge Oyetade Komolafe said poor construction and bad design caused the accident.
    The disaster occurred on September 12, 2014 in the church compound of popular preacher T.B. Joshua.
    84 South Africans, who were from visiting church groups, were killed when three storeys, which were being added to a two-storey guest-house, collapsed.
    Oyetade Komolafe said the contractor should be investigated and prosecuted, and blamed pastor T.B. Joshua, one of Africa's best-known Christian preachers, for carrying out the works without building permits.
    One member of T.B. Joshua's church said the coroner's judgement would have to be reviewed.
    "The man of God (referring to Joshua) will hear the details and if the verdict says that the engineers who built the foundation and the building should be investigated and prosecuted, that means another court case will happen and court will then go into details," said musician Tee Mac Omatshola.
    Joshua supporters, dressed in red attire, gathered outside the court.
    Many of them held banners reading "Set the man of God free", "Leave the man of God alone. Let him attend to our health issue" and "Touch not God's anointed and do his prophet no harm".
    Defence lawyer Olalekan Ojo said the judge's verdict notwithstanding, the church and Joshua had been vindicated.
    "They did not patronise quacks, they did not disturb certain responders, they procured good materials. And they worked commendably where? Towards ensuring the rescue of the victims," Ojo said.
    Prosecution lawyer Akingbolahan Adeniran said the inquest was necessary to clarify certain bits of information.
    "The law takes its time to understand deeply what happened, and then perhaps it might be delayed, but at the end of the day, I think we will get to the bottom of it all. So I won't say, he wasn't the subject of proceedings, so there's no question as to whether or not he would have been vindicated or exonerated," Adeniran said.
    Joshua's church draws thousands of followers from all over Africa and many other parts of the world, attracted by claims that he and his "wise men" can cure almost any affliction by "casting out demons" they say are responsible for everything from madness, to HIV/AIDS, to normally irreparable spine damage.
    The regular influx of visitors from abroad for church services that can last up to a week creates demand for accommodation that the church's own guest house has been unable to meet, and often spills over into local hotels.
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