A Lagos High Court, Igbosere on Thursday heard that there was cause for concern (panic), when a witness, Alaba Yahaya Haruna, received a radio message that an aircraft was flying on low altitude, at Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), before the building collapsed. The witness, who is an Assistant Commissioner of Police, disclosed this in his testimony yesterday at the ongoing trial of the Registered Trustees of SCOAN and four others, over the collapsed building on September 12, 2014, that killed 116 people.
Also sued are two engineers: Messrs Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, and their companies, Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Limited. Aside SCOAN’s one-count charge, the other defendants are facing 110 counts of involuntary manslaughter. SCOAN was charged on a one-count charge of building without approval brought against it by the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), following the dismissal of its no-case submission on March 8, 2016. Haruna who was being cross examined by Lagos State counsel, Dr Babajide Martins, before Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo said when he got the radio message, it showed that it caused concern. He told the court that he was in his office when he got the message from his patrol team who observed an aircraft flying low over a Synagogue Church Earlier the witness in his testimony had told the Court that there was no panic when he received the radio message, that a plane was flying low.
He said, ” I was in my office when I got the message, before I got to the scene, they said the building had collapsed. There was no report of panic that plane was flying low. ” Haruna further told court that the Inspector General of Police set up panel to look into the incident. ” Police at SCID Panti also carried out investigation in this matter. We had commenced preliminary investigation before Panti carried out their own investigation. I don’t know if the police has concluded their investigation on the collapsed building.”
At the last adjourned date , Haruna, Area Commander of the Eastern Ports Command, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, told court that he was the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the Ikotun Egbe Police Station, Lagos, at the time the building collapsed. Led in examination-in-chief by SCOAN Trustees counsel, Mr Oluseye Diyan, the witness said, “On that fateful day on September 12, 2014 at about 12:30 hours, there was a radio communication from the police control room at Ikeja that they were receiving calls from the public of an aircraft flying at low altitude over the church. I was directed by the Area Command to confirm the incident and monitor the aircraft’s activities. “I wanted to go out and direct my men to watch out for the aircraft when I received another report of an airplane flying at a very low altitude. I went outside but I couldn’t see it, by that time it had gone. I received a call later from Inspector Lucky Ugbaja, stationed at the church, that one of the church’s buildings had collapsed.” According to him, the radio room had earlier radioed the Police Airport Command to confirm whether it was carrying out any activity in the SCOAN vicinity. Haruna said when he arrived at the church’s premises there was a large crowd and the few policemen there were trying to manage the situation.
More onlookers kept trooping in and the crowd spilled to the roads outside the church, causing serious traffic gridlock. “We were overwhelmed,” Haruna told the judge, adding that he called for more policemen, which was provided. He said his men cordoned off the scene in an attempt to restrict entrance to only those who could assist the church members and other worshippers in the rescue operation. According to him, the floors of the collapsed building were lying one on the other “and the church members and others at the scene were engaged in rescue operations. “Those I met there were SCOAN worshippers, they were bringing out so many people from under the rubble. Most of the victims were alive. Some were injured, some were not. “Later the Red Cross, Life Savers, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) arrived and joined us in the rescue.”
The witness stated that the LASEMA General Manager complained of difficulty in gaining access to the scene of the collapse because of the crowd and that the journalists in his entourage were denied access, following which he apologised and ordered his men to let the journalists in. He said the rescue mission lasted about seven days. Meanwhile Justice Lawal-Akapo, has adjourned the matter till October 4, for continuation of trial.