The coroner investigating the cause of
the September 12 Synagogue building collapse has demanded for the list
of the people lodging in the building prior to the accident.
This demand was made on Thursday during a visit to the site of the collapsed building by the coroner, Magistrate O. A. Komolafe.
Komolafe, who made the demand, said the
list would be an important complement to the work of the pathologists in
identifying the corpses.
“We want to be able to identify all the
victims, because those bodies will not be released to their relatives if
we cannot identify them.
“They will be given mass burial, which is not appropriate,” Komolafe said.
The coroner reiterated that the mission
of his court was not to convict anyone but to uncover the factor
responsible for the collapse of the six-storey building.
“Like I said at the inaugural sitting,
we are not here on a witch-hunt or to convict anybody. We are here for a
fact-finding purpose and how we can ascertain the cause of the
incident,” he added.
In his own submission, the Lagos State
Chief Forensic Pathologist, Prof. John Obafunwa, who accompanied the
coroner on the visit, buttressed the coroner, adding that there was no
harm in making the list available to the court.
Obafunwa also delivered a formal letter addressed to the church requesting for the manifest.
He said, “In an investigation of this
nature, we need to carry out our own tests. “DNA analysis will not give
you a name. There is nothing wrong with what we are asking for.”
Responding on behalf of the Synagogue
Church of All Nations, its lawyer, Chief Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), noted
that the DNA of all the families of the victims had been submitted to
the pathologists more than two weeks ago.
Fagbemi reiterated that the church was
ready to cooperate with the coroner in unravelling the cause of the
building collapse, adding that the requested list would be provided by
his client.
The Chief Security Officer of the church, Mr. Sunday Okojie, received the coroner and his entourage on behalf of the church.
While conducting the team round the site
of the incident, Okojie showed them the CCTV which captured the events
shortly before and after the building collapsed.
Others who went on the visit with the
coroner were the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and
Urban Development, Mr. Toyin Ayinde, and the lawyer for the state
government, Mr. Akingbolahan Adeniran.
Also on the visit were the
representatives of the Nigeria Police Force, the Red Cross Society and
the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority.
The next sitting of the coroner court has been fixed for October 24, 2014.
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