Emmanuel Ukudolo
Nigeria, June 21, 2016 – Details about how Synagogue Church of All Nations(SCOAN) collapsed was unfolded today when former Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Olutoyin Adedamola Ayinde testified before a Lagos High court sitting in Ikeja in a case involving the Lagos State Government and Trustees of SCOAN.
At least 116 people mostly South Africans were killed when the building under construction collapsed in September 12, 2014. But the former commissioner told the court that the building caved in after an unidentified aircraft hovered round the structure.
“After the third movements, there was a collapse”, he told the court presided over by his lordship, Justice Lawal Akapo.
Ayinde who said he refused to form an opinion after watching video of the aircraft hovering around the structure said he had to take the video to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA), who have the expertise to confirm the aircraft flying and coordinates of the flight path to know how far or near and the altitude of the flight to know how low it was flying relative to the building.
“We got a response, showing us the diagram beyond which aircraft will not go’’, he told the court, adding that based on the flight path, he approached office of the Surveyor General to plot the flight swab.
Based on information gathered, he said the unknown aircraft was flying at a range of 137.0 metre to 280.09 metres from the building.
For vivid explanation, he said the nearest will be from Justice Akapo’s Court to the fence of the Nigerian Police College, and that the plane was cruising at an altitude of 1100 feet.
Using the height of the court as a basis, he said, the aircraft was flying about 110 floors from the SCOAN building that eventually caved in, killing 116 people, mainly miracle visitors from South Africa.
It was at this moment that lawyers to the TB Joshua attempted to unsuccessful stop the former commissioner from giving further explanation.
Earlier, Ayinde had said that the collapsed building had no valid approval. According to him, a five storey building was approved for the auditorium but that SCOAN engineers were in the process of constructing an eight storey structure when it collapsed.
He said that what SCOAN did constituted a breach, thus rendering the earlier approval invalid and that the punishment was demolition under physical planning laws of Lagos State.
The former commissioner said his office was able to know this because he sent officials to the site to pick up the slabs for laboratory investigation.
According to him, 5 to 6 slabs were collected suggesting that it was a 6 or 7 storey by counting the slabs. The matter has been adjourned to Wednesday June 22, 2016 for continuation of trial.
