12th July, 2015
An engineering expert from Tanzania is the latest to question the verdict of Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe who presided over the inquest dealing with the collapse a building within The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) last year.
Dr Steven Asheri Ntoga, the dean of the Faculty of Engineering in Tanzania, stated that from his professional viewpoint, structural failure was not the cause of the fatal collapse.
“I am a civil engineer, a structural engineer and a material engineer,” Dr Ntoga explained in a YouTube video which shows him standing before the foundations of the ill-fated building within The SCOAN premises.
The Tanzanian university lecturer said that ‘British standards’ were used in the construction, adding that, the foundation was sufficiently strong for the size and weight of the building.
“This foundation itself is over-exaggerated, meaning that the interaction between this foundation base and the soil has been opened up so wide that even if the soil was of low strength, then actually, it will still have an excellent response,” he explained. “This is why, as you can see, the foundation itself is healthy.”
Ntoga, who was educated in Greece, described the steel used in the construction as having ‘the highest strength in the world’.
“With this kind of foundation, the building could go to even more than 12 stories,” he insisted, adding that the manner and speed in which the building fell suggested controlled demolition.
“This could only have been done as a preplanned arrangement by knowledgeable people like me who teach people how to demolish buildings,” he said.
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Since the verdict, some Nigerians from different walks of life have also questioned the outcome of the inquiry.
Engineer Johnson Solomon, a Petro-chemical expert from Delta state observed that the ruling of the coroner appeared to be premeditated and jaundiced based on its refusal to take into consideration certain issues that suggested a possible sabotage.
“The outcome of the coroner is purely an expression of the magistrate’s ill-feelings against the ministry of Prophet T.B. Joshua,” he told newsmen in Effurun.
Primate Babatunde Elijah Ayodele, the founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, also stated his support for Joshua.
“The healing and miracles done by Joshua, just like any genuine man of God, will always have consequences, including attacks by dark forces,” the cleric told newsmen.
“The ways of God are a mystery to man, so it is difficult to reject Joshua’s explanation for the collapse. We should leave judgement to God, even as families of the dead have forgiven the church,” he added.
In the same vein, Senior Apostle Bamidele Ogunyemi of the Overcomers’ Evangelical Mission, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, noted that the coroner’s ruling seemed preplanned.
The cleric who said he had been attending the legal proceedings at the Lagos Court, submitted that the body language of the presiding magistrate from the first day of the inquest showed that he was biased against The SCOAN.
For Major General Mohammed Daura, a retired army officer from Kaduna, the coroner’s failure to dig deep into the aircraft theory posited by The SCOAN is an indication that the truth is being swept under the carpet.
“I am interested in this case because of the great things Prophet T.B. Joshua has been doing for the less-privileged all over the world, especially those from northern Nigeria,” he said.
According to Prophetess Nkiruka Omekagu, General Overseer of the Adonai Prophetic Ministries, “God’s wrath will fall on those who are trying to trouble the man of God”.
She stated that no amount of falsehood against a prophet of God can stand the test of time, adding that human judgment is limited and subject to error.
“Prophet T.B. Joshua remains a Christian role model worthy of emulation, so why is he being haunted for doing good to people,” she questioned.
Meanwhile, The SCOAN has rejected the verdict of the coroner on the grounds that it is unreasonable, one-sided and biased.
Ihechukwu Njoku, a freelance journalist resides in Warri, Nigeria