During a sitting to determine the appropriateness in law or otherwise of the substituted summons pasted on the premises of the respondents in the case between the engineers who handled the construction of the collapsed Synagogue, Church of All Nations building and the Lagos State Government, the state’s Director of Public Prosecution, Mrs Idowu Alakija submitted that its case against the engineers who handled the collapsed building was not based on the verdict of the coroner’s inquest. Her submission was greeted with so much outrage as most people in court, including some journalists lamented its irrationality.
According to some of the people who later spoke to journalists, “If she argues that the state government’s case against The SCOAN engineers is not based on the verdict of the coroner, then it means that the Lagos State Government is acting out of the ambit of the law. This development smacks of the highest level of confusion, contradiction and inconsistency on the part of the state.” It would be recalled that one of the high points of the Magistrate Oyetade-Komolafe-led coroner’s inquest was a recommendation that the engineers who handled the construction of the collapsed building be investigated for criminal negligence. Speaking further, they posited, “If the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution is now detaching her suit against the engineers from the coroner’s verdict, it means that the government is insincere about the whole process.”
In a related development, it has been observed that an application for judicial review of the case filed by The SCOAN legal team is still pending before Justice Alogba of Ikeja High Court. Fundamental issues raised in the application included a prayer seeking to determine whether or not the Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe-led coroner’s inquest was a creation of law. It would be recalled that while delivering his verdict on the coroner’s inquest, Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe ruled that Alimosho Coroner’s District existed and was a creation of law. But a careful review of the Lagos State Coroner’s system revealed that there was no such district in existence. The implication of the foregoing is that all the recommendations of that coroner amounts to a nullity in law. Even though the Lagos state government has agreed to have committed a legal error, it has not deemed it fit to apologize or withdraw the case against the engineers.
However, observers are of the opinion that the state has shot itself in the leg and is only looking for a cunning way to wriggle out of the mess it has found itself in.