Synagogue Church Building Collapse Update

Synagogue Church Building Collapse Update

Dayo Fabiyi, a witness, has said that the Synagogue Church of All Nations building was in perfect condition before the deadly collapse of the structure that killed 116 people in 2014.

Fabiyi, who is the seventh witness in the ongoing trial of the trustees of the church, told the Igbosere High Court on Thursday that he worked as a volunteer in the maintenance department from February, 2014 till date.

He was led in evidence by the fourth defendant Counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN).

Naijaparry reports that the Lagos State Government had sued the church over the building collapse that occurred on 12 September, 2014, killing mainly worshipers.

The defendants are two engineers, Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, charged alongside their companies – Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Ltd.

They are facing trial on a 110-count charge of involuntary manslaughter while the registered trustees of SCOAN were charged with a count charge of erecting a building without approval.

At the resumed hearing, Fabiyi said, “I go round the facilities to check if there are any sort of cracks or deflections on the beams and I did such routine inspection on the collapsed building before it collapsed in 2014.

“There was no sign of deflections or any stress on the collapsed building before it collapsed.”

However, during cross-examination by the state prosecutor, Dr Jide Martins, Fabiyi affirmed that he was not involved in the investigation of the beams of the collapsed building.

But he maintained that cracks and deflections on buildings were always visible to the eyes.