Two Years after Synagogue Church Building Collapse, still awaiting justice

Today makes it exactly 2 years since a guest house under construction at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) caved in. The Synagogue Church building collapse led to the loss of over 100 lives, majority of them South Africans on pilgrimage to the church.

Following the collapse of the building, there were doubts about whether or not the church management had the necessary approval to add more floors to an existing building.

There were also questions about the quality of construction materials being used. In the midst of all that controversy, 115 lives remained lost, 84 of them South Africans whose bodies were conveyed back home for burial.

In the 2 years since the tragic incident, there have been steps to bring those responsible for the building collapse to justice, only, not enough appears to have been done.

A coroner’s court indicted the church management and the engineers involved in the construction of the guest house, and Lagos state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, promised to ensure that justice was done.

In all of this however, many have continued to wonder why the general overseer of the church, Prophet TB Joshua, has not for any moment been invited for questioning or arrested over the building collapse.

Of all persons indicted by the coroner’s court, only the engineers were arrested to face trial even though the case has suffered different hitches. Neither the Trustees of the Synagogue Church nor its founder, Prophet Temitope Joshua, have appeared in court to answer to the charges against them.

A similar case of a building collapse at Lekki Gardens estate with a much lower casualty figure however attracted more vigorous action from the Lagos state government. Not only was the managing director arrested, senior government officials were also sacked.

As families continue to mourn those who died in the Synagogue Church building collapse, justice to many of them would only truly mean seeing all those who are culpable suffering some consequence for the avoidable deaths. It is true that the engineers are facing trial but many contend that the buck does not and should not stop at their tables.