Synagogue Building Collapse: Lagos Court Remands 2 Engineers Involved In Kirikiri Prison

The two engineers, who constructed the collapsed seven-storey guest house of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), were on Tuesday remanded at Kirikiri Maximum Prisons, Lagos. An Ikeja High Court which gave the ruling, said the men should be kept behind bars pending the determination of the charges against them.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the engineers — Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun — had pleaded not guilty to a 111-count charge bordering on gross negligence and criminal manslaughter. Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo said: “The defendants are remanded in Kirikiri Maximum Prisons pending the determination of the charge.’’

The prosecution, led by Idowu Alakija, the Director, Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), said the defendants committed the offences between Aug. 20 and September 2013. According to her, the defendants constructed a seven-storey building at the church in Ikotun-Egbe in Ikotun area of Lagos with disregard for human lives.

The collapsed guest house on Sept. 12, 2014, led to the death of 116 persons, 85 of who were South Africans.

The Coroner’s Inquest instituted by the Lagos State Government had in its verdict on July 8, 2015 said the building collapse was caused by structural failure due to a combination of designs and detailing errors.