Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun – the two engineers – who constructed the collapsed seven-storey guest house of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), were remanded at Kirikiri Maximum Prisons in Lagos .
Lateef
Lawal-Akapo, a judge of an Ikeja high court, who gave the ruling, said
the men should be kept behind bars until the charges would be
determined.
“The defendants are remanded in Kirikiri Maximum Prisons pending the determination of the charge,” he ordered.
The engineers had pleaded not guilty to a 111-count charge bordering on gross negligence and criminal manslaughter.
The
prosecution led by Idowu Alakija, director, Lagos state directorate of
public prosecutions (DPP), said the defendants committed the offences
between August 20 and September 2013.
According
to her, the defendants constructed a seven-storey building at the
church in Ikotun-Egbe in Ikotun area of Lagos with disregard for human
lives.
One-hundred-and-sixteen persons, 85 of whom were South Africans, died in the incident.
On July
8, 2015, the coroner’s inquest instituted by the Lagos state
government, had said the collapse was caused by structural failure due
to a combination of designs and detailing errors.
The
inquest ordered that Synagogue church be investigated and prosecuted by
the relevant authorities for not possessing necessary building permits,
while the two engineers should be tried for criminal negligence.
The
arraignment of the defendants by the Lagos state government had been
continuously stalled by the defence through several adjournments and
filing of various applications before the court.
But at
Tuesday’s proceedings, the Judge dismissed two seperate applications of
Titi Akinlawon (SAN) and E.L. Akpofure (SAN), and immediately ordered
the arraignment of Fatiregun, Ogundeji and the trustees of the church in
spite of opposition from the defence.
The case was adjourned to April 26 for hearing of the defendants’ bail applications.
-The Cable
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