Manslaughter: Synagogue Church, Engineers Arraigned

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Manslaughter: Synagogue Church, Engineers Arraigned

By Correspondent

 The Registered Trustees of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) and the two engineers who supervised the construction of the collapsed six-storey guest house owned by the church and their companies were on Tuesday arraigned before Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo of a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja. The judge arrived at the decision after throwing out the separate applications filed by the defendants through their lawyers who had prayed the court for proceedings to be stayed pending their appeal at the Court of Appeal. Furthermore, the court ordered that the two engineers, Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun be remanded in Kirikiri Maximum Prison. It would be recalled that the Lagos State Government had late last year, slammed a 111-count criminal charge against the trustees of the church, the two engineers, and their companies ”“ Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Limited ”“ for their involvement in the September 12, 2014 collapse of a six-storey guest house belonging to the church, which led to the death of 116 persons. However, several tactics were deployed by the defendants apparently to frustrate their being arraigned with the filing of numerous pre-trial applications. The criminal charge against the defendants touches on criminal negligence, manslaughter, and failure to obtain a building permit. In his ruling, Justice Lawal-Akapo held that Section 273 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) states that subject to the constitution, an application for a stay of proceedings in respect of a criminal matter before the High Court should not be entertained before the court. ”˜I find no merit in the two applications, they are lacking in merit and substance. This is a clear case of abuse of court processes to the irritation and annoyance of the court.’ But shortly after the ruling, the lead counsel for the defendants made frantic moves to make the court not to proceed with the arraignment. Particularly, SCOAN’s lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), insisted that it will not be proper to proceed with the arraignment on the reason that the business of the day was for a ruling. Even Chief Efe Akpofure (SAN), who is representing Hardrock Construction Company, revealed that he had just lost his mother and would not be able to proceed. However, the judge overruled them and ordered that the charges be read to the accused persons. The judge adjourned until April 26, 2016, for the hearing of the defendants’ bail applications.

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