LAGOS State is no stranger to having its buildings crash. These sad events, whenever they unfold, are sometimes with loss of lives, but always with loss of resources.
These, notwithstanding, no collapse in the state’s history has attracted so much attention, drawn so much controversy, and close public monitoring as the September 12, 2014 collapse of a six-storey guesthouse at the headquarters of the Synagogue Church of All Nations in the Ikotun area of the state.
Needless to say, how the drama ends will set precedence for the state’s future handling of similar disasters. There are several reasons why the Synagogue collapse is significant.
Firstly, it recorded the highest casualty figure in the state’s 48-year history.
More than a hundred people, mostly South Africans, lost their lives in the incident.
Secondly, it came at a time when the Lagos government needed to be seen as doing something about the increasingly embarrassing spate of building collapse in the state.
Thirdly, the incident occurred at the premises of one of the most controversial, and perhaps the most vilified of Christian ministers in Nigeria, a popular quip being: ‘if the man were truly a prophet, he ought to have seen it coming’.
Since no building collapses without cause, reason adduced by the Church for the unfortunate incident has had to weather a storm of skepticism, beginning from day one, something reminiscent of the recent ‘Ondo mysterious disease’ that blinded or killed its victims.
While residents attributed the deaths to the wrath of the gods, laboratory evidence proved it was handiwork of methanol poison. The Church, following the incident, had released CCTV footage showing an aircraft flying close to the building. It concluded the building fell as a result of sabotage, not unconnected with the aircraft.
The coroner’s inquest, meanwhile, cited criminal negligence. It, consequently, called for the arrest and prosecution of the contractor, Akinbela Fatiregun, and structural engineer, Oladele Ogundeji.
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