Nations, SCOAN, Prophet Temitope Joshua seeking to stop the inquest into the collapse of a building within his church premises.
Justice Okunnu dismissed the application for being premature and lacking in merit.
The
inquest was set up by the Lagos State Government to unravel the cause
of the September 12, 2014 building collapse which killed 116 people
mostly of South African nationality
The applicants had
dragged the coroner’s court and the coroner, Mr Oyetade Komolafe, before
Okunnu asking for a judicial review of the proceedings.
Their counsel, Chief Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), had asked the
court to determine whether the witness summons served on Joshua to
appear before the coroner did not constitute an infringement on his
right to fair hearing.
Fagbemi had also asked the court
to declare that the coroner exceeded the jurisdiction of a coroner’s
court by delving into areas that were beyond its scope.
Komolafe was also accused of being biased and demonstrating a personal interest in the matter.
The
respondent’s counsel, Mr Akinjide Bakare, had urged the court to
dismiss the application, arguing that the coroner had extensive powers
to investigate the cause and circumstances of death and report to the
appropriate authorities.
He said in order to determine
the cause of death, the coroner has the latitude to summon any witness
and investigate issues pertaining to building approval, soil testing and
materials used in the construction of the collapsed guest house.
Delivering
her ruling, the judge held that although the coroner’s court cannot be
sued, Komolafe himself can be sued in his capacity as a coroner.
According
to her, the court needed to resolve the issue whether the coroner has
acted contrary to the rules of natural justice by not granting the
applicants a fair hearing and whether he has exceeded the scope of a
coroner’s court.
Okunnu said Sections 26 and 27 of the
Coroner’s System Law of Lagos State 2007, empowered the coroner to
summon any witness to assist him in his fact-finding mission, adding
that there was nothing unusual in the summons extended to Joshua.
The
judge said there was no evidence before the court that the coroner had
been biased against the applicant and therefore dismissed the
suggestion.
She also held that a coroner had the
prerogative to take evidence from any witness he deemed relevant to
reaching his conclusions.
“I find therefore the present application lacks merit and has failed in its entirety. It is accordingly dismissed,” Okunnu said.
Meanwhile,
at the resumption on the inquest on Friday, a Structural Engineer and
Consultant to the Lagos State Material Testing Agency, Saheed Ariyori,
revealed that he was not a professional in sub-soil investigations.
Speaking while being cross-examined by counsel to the Synagogue Church
of All Nations (SCOAN), Olalekan Ojo, the witness further confirmed that
he did not participate in the generation of the sub-soil investigation
report already tendered before the court.
According to
him, “We did integrity test on the rubble that collapsed. The report
showed that the concrete used on the collapsed building was good.
“Our investigation report did not show that there were signs of stress on the foundation of the collapsed building.”
Besides, Ariyori confirmed that there were errors in his calculations made before the court on March 4, 2015.
Source:PM News
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