Emmanuel Ukudolo l Thursday, December 15, 2016
LAGOS, Nigeria – A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja was on Thursday aghast when it was told that five dead bodies, exhumed from the rubble when the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) collapsed 28 months ago are yet to be identified.
Led in evidence by the counsel to the Lagos state government, Idowu Alakija, a Consultant Pathologist to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), and the former vice-chancellor of the Lagos State University (LASU), Professor John Obafunwa further confirmed that multiple injuries, traumatic asphyxia, severe blood loss, severe fracture and compression of the skull with the brain tissue, congested heart failure against the background of hypertension, and accumulation of blood in the chest cavity resulted in the death of the late victims.
Obafunwa further explained that, “To avoid any decomposition, we have to embalm the bodies in the various mortuaries and were equally given identification numbers.
“On the 22nd of September 2014, I received a Coroners’ order to commence a post-mortem examination for identification purposes.
“The bodies were finger printed, examined externally, opened up and examined internally, and samples were taken from various organs to examine them under the microscope.
“We took samples of bones, muscles, pulled hair where available for the purposes of DNA analysis and those samples were sent to a laboratory in South Africa about middle of October, 2014. We also collected DNA samples from the relations of the deceased victims.
“The whole idea was to identify the cause of the death of the affected victims and in the process we were able to identify one hundred and ten (110) victims from the one hundred and sixteen (116) that died apart from the one that died after ten days he was admitted at LASUTH.
“All the dead bodies were issued a death certificate each after identification and the immediate cause of their death was indicated therein.
It would be recalled that the collapsed building had killed no fewer than 116 worshippers who had lodged at the guest house belonging to SCOAN.
The Lagos state government dragged the Registered Trustees of SCOAN alongside two engineers; Messrs Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun and their companies, Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Limited to court to give answers to a 111-count charge over their alleged involvement in the collapsed six-storey guest house belonging to the church, causing the death of 116 persons.
Specifically, the charge borders on criminal negligence, manslaughter and failure to obtain building permit.
Meanwhile, Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo has adjourned the matter till January 19, 2017 for continuation of trial.
