Synagogue Church tragedy: 62 South African victims identified

ABOUT 62 South Africans who were victims of last month’s building collapse at the Synagogue Church for All Nations (SCOAN), Ikotun Egbe, a Lagos suburb, have been identified, South Africa’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Lulu Mnguni, has said.

Mnguni, who revealed this to an online news medium, added that experts from South Africa would be doing all DNA testing over the next few days and would be reporting to Nigeria in the process.

“So far, 62 of the South Africans have been identified and more remains have been collected from the site. We always agreed that all the materials will be sent to South Africa for analysis in order to identify the bodies, who they are and which countries they are coming from,” Mnguni stated.

The guesthouse accommodating some members of SCOAN collapsed on September 12, killing scores of people, the majority of the dead being South Africans.

SCOAN General Overseer, Prophet T. B. Joshua, has insisted that a plane flying close to the building before the collapse was the cause of the tragedy.

In a related development, the coroner’s inquest into the building collapse will commence on October 13.

A statement by spokesperson of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Mrs Bola Akingbade, on Friday, said the inquest would take place at the premises of the Ikeja High Court and would be presided over by  a magistrate, Oyetade Komolafe.

The inquest was instituted under the Lagos State Coroner’s System Law No. 7 of 2007 for the purpose of establishing the cause and manner of the collapsed building incident.

The statement said those expected to give evidence at the inquest include Prophet Joshua and the contractors handling the church building.

Others are members of the families of the victims of the incident and some media organisations.

The statement also stated that some ministries, departments and parastatal agencies of Lagos State, the state police command, security agencies and the Nigerian Red Cross would testify.

The statement said a witness, Lindiwe Ndwande and Mr Rebone Tau, Chairman of the Youth League’s International Relations Committee of South Africa, would also give evidence.  

source: nigeria tribune