Synagogue trustees, engineers to be arraigned February 18

Synagogue trustees, engineers to be arraigned February 18

Trustees of the Synagogue Church of All Nation and the two engineers that handled the construction of the church’s six- storey building that collapsed September 12, 2014 will be arraigned before a Lagos High Court, Ikeja , on February 18.

This followed the dismissal of the application filed by the engineers, Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun and their companies, Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Limited seeking to set aside the verdict of the Lagos Coroner court which inducted them for the collapsed building.

A total of 116 persons mostly South Africans died in the incident.

The court presided by Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo fixed the date on Monday, after dismissing the separate applications filed by the two engineers, seeking to stop their prosecution for lacking in merit.

The Lagos State Government had late last year slammed a 111- count criminal charge against trustees of the church, the two engineers and their companies.

The court had on December 11, 2015 granted an application by the prosecution to serve the fourth and fifth defendants through substituted means after several attempts to serve them were not successful.

Justice Lawal-Akapo had also ordered the prosecution to paste the court papers on the front doors of the 4th and 5th defendants’ addresses in Alagbado and Ikeja areas of Lagos respectively.

In addition, the judge ordered the prosecution to file photographic evidences featuring the sheriff pasting the court papers.

The engineers on the other hand had challenged the legality of the court processes effected on them by the state government.