Collapsed building: T.B Joshua launches attack on coroners verdict

Article written by freelance Synagogue Church
reporter, Ihechukwu Njoku. Read below...
Nigerian Prophet T.B. Joshua has launched a
scathing attack against the verdict of the
coroner's court in Lagos yesterday which ruled
the tragic collapse of a building within his
church last year was due to structural failure.
"The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations rejects
the verdict of the coroner on the grounds that
it is unreasonable, one-sided and biased," a
statement released via their official Facebook
page read, attributed to Barr. Olalekan Ojo,
lead counsel to The SCOAN.
"The church maintains its stand that the incident was
as a result of sabotage," the statement continued,
further adding that the public should not be misled
by media reports casting sensational headlines
suggesting the church was liable for prosecution over
'criminal negligence'.
The statement highlighted that no evidence was
found that The SCOAN hired incompetent
professionals or used substandard materials in the
construction of the building.
"There was no finding that connected the incident
with the lack of a building permit," the statement
proceeded, adding that the process of procuring the
necessary approval was well underway and had been
assessed and accepted by relevant government
agencies before the incident.
"The church disagrees most vehemently with the
finding that the incident was due to structural
failure," continued the strongly worded statement,
insisting the verdict failed to consider substantial
evidence which pointed to sabotage and ruled out
structural failure.
"It was a one-sided verdict which left many issues
unaddressed and questions unanswered." The SCOAN
highlighted that the verdict failed to even recognise
the CCTV footage released by the church which
showed "the 6-storey building falling in less than 4
seconds - a manner consistent with controlled or
externally induced demolition".
It concluded by stating that Chief Magistrate Oyetade
Komolafe's admission "that the conduct of the
investigation of the incident was compromised... calls
into question the integrity and reliability of the entire
investigation." Joshua's supporters were vocal in
their support of the 'prophet' in the thousands of
comments posted beneath the statement, many
insisting the verdict was the work of 'the devil'.
"If you bury a lie, it will rot. If you bury the truth, it
will rise," wrote Opeyemi Oduwole. "We South
Africans know what happened to the building; we
know the truth. No matter how they lie, the truth will
prevail," added Bridget Mkhonto.
Joshua followed up on the statement by posting a
video on Facebook highlighting the differences
between controlled demolition and structural failure
with the caption, "No matter how fast a lie runs, the
truth will someday overtake it."