No fewer than 17 victims have been confirmed dead and 124 others injured at the Synagogue collapsed building at Ikotun area of Lagos State.
There is no official information yet about the circumstance that led to the collapse of the six-story building which belongs to the Synagogue Church of All Nations. However, according to the Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA), Dr Oluwafemi Oke-Osanyintolu, the building was said to be under construction when it came down at about 1p.m yesterday and trapped in some of its occupants. Rescue operation was still ongoing as at Saturday afternoon when our correspondent visited the site of the collapsed building. Oke-Osanyintolu, while speaking with journalists, confirmed the figure of the casualties and assured that those rescued alive were responding well to treatment at various general hospitals as well as the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja. “At 1p.m yesterday, we were informed at our control centre that a six-story building under construction collapsed. We immediately activated our emergency response and informed the Chief Security Officer of the state, his Excellency Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) about what is going on. We moved in with our machinery and we discovered that the six-story building under construction belongs to the Synagogue Church of All Nations.”
Sympathizers and passers-by thronged the gate of the church as they watched Lagos State emergency ambulances driving in and out in their rescue operation. Attempt by journalists to cover the rescue operation was met with severe resistance from members of the church
who harassed and intimated reporters as they were trying to gain entry into the premises of the collapsed building. Intrigues came into play when the LASEMA boss finally agreed to lead the press to the site of the collapsed building, as policemen who were supposed to maintain law and order became accomplices in the seemingly unruly attitude of the church’s security officers who were manning the gate. Twice, effort by Osanyintolu to get the cooperation of the church members proved abortive. Even Ikotun DPO, Mr. Haruna Alaba who led the police team didn’t see anything wrong in the unruly behavior of the church members.
He, however, later succumbed to the pressure from journalists and LASEMA boss who insisted on having an on-the-spot assessment of the situation after a closed door meeting with senior officers of the church. Osanyintolu, lamenting the ordeal of his team in the hands of the overzealous church members said: “Initially, we met some harassment from the church members. We tried to calm them down, sympathized with them and explained to them that we needed to do our work. We informed them about our mission which is to rescue victims. We’ve been on it using our heavy and light duty equipments. With these combined efforts, we have been able to save some lives and all the casualties are receiving free treatment at our general hospitals. We’ve been working since yesterday afternoon till today. We are approaching ground zero,” he said.
On what could be the possible cause of the tragedy, he added: “We will be empirical about it. We are going to conduct detailed investigation. The Ministry of Physical Planning is on the ground, the Ministry of Works is on ground, Solid Material Testing Agency is on the ground. They all will be empirical about it and we will give you details about what is going on.”
The General Overseer of the Church, Prophet T.B Joshua, who later addressed the press, apologized for the harassment and intimidation meted out to journalists. He said those who resisted the press were sympathizers from the neighbouring communities who didn’t appreciate the synergy between the church and the media. His words: “I have read the reports of different newspapers on the hostility met by the press. I want to say that members of this church can never do such a thing. We know the value of the media. Whatever we do against the media, we are doing it against Emmanuel TV. If not for Emmanuel TV, nobody will know about synagogue. Emmanuel TV is what is helping us to show to the world what Synagogue is doing. I know the relationship of Jesus Christ with the media in those days. The same relationship still maintains here in this synagogue. Villagers and communities came down when they heard about the news trying to show mercy. But as you know, people show mercy in different ways. So, I want to say that I am very sorry for whatever happened.”
On the collapsed building, the man of God said the circumstance leading to the collapse of the building was suspicious and could be linked to a suspected aero plane which was seen hovering over the church’s building some few minutes before it came down. He said: “Concerning the issue we are here for, the circumstances surrounding the situation made members to avoid the press yesterday. About two months ago, this camera (with a shape of a toy plane) just came from nowhere hovering over the church building. We shot it down. By revelation, I knew we should be at our guard. It was yesterday Friday as I was praying; they came to call me that there was an aero plane hovering over the church. They said it is like it wanted to land. I said plane cannot land here except Helicopter. They said it was too close. After about 30 munities later, it came on top of this building. In an interval of three minutes, it came the first time, second time, third time and then the fourth time. About five minutes after, the building came down.”
As a proof of the allegation of suspicion, he also showed a short clip of the plane hovering over the church. In the clip, the plane was seen hovering over the building within an interval of some minutes. Coming closer in its fourth round, the building came down crashing like a pack. Asked to establish the connection between the plane and the collapsed building, he said he would want journalists to use their discretion to write on what they saw. He declined further comment for fear of being accused of security breach.
Notable personalities have been visiting Prophet Joshua to commiserate with him over the loss of lives recorded at the collapsed building.
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