21st July, 2015
Following the decision of the Lagos State Government to prosecute the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Ikotun and the engineers who supervised the construction of the collapsed guest house belonging to the church, a group based in Oshodi, Youth Alive, has appealed to the state government to temper justice with mercy.
The youths in a statement signed by their president, Olumodeji Samuel, urged the government to remember the philantropic activities of the founder of the church, Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua, to the poor and needy in the state over the years.
“Prophet T.B. Joshua is not an engineer, neither is he a building contractor to understand that the foundation of the collapsed guest house was weak.
“We want to use this medium to appeal to the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and the state House of Assembly to temper justice with mercy on the verdict of the Lagos coroner on the Synagogue Church of All Nations.
“Prophet Joshua has been a great influence on many people of different religious backgrounds and social gatherings,” the youths stated in their press release.
The Oshodi youths added that the government should forgive Prophet Joshua because he is innocent of all the charges.
“Inasmuch as we will not discourage the Lagos State Government from carrying out its primary duty of saving lives and properties, we will also want it to remember that Prophet T.B. Joshua is unlike other men of God who flaunt their wealth by buying private jets and engaging in extravagant lifestyles with members of their families,” the release stated.
Governor Ambode had last Thursday declared that his administration would enforce the verdict of the coroner’s inquest into the September 12, 2014 Synagogue Church building collapse.
Ambode in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Habib Aruna, said his administration would uphold and enforce the law in the state.
The governor disclosed that consequent upon the collapse of the guesthouse at the premises of Synagogue Church of All Nations, the state government applied that a coroner’s inquest be commenced into the cause of the tragic deaths, adding that the government would prosecute the contractor, Engineer Akinbela Fatiregun of Hardrock Engineering Company Limited and Structural Engineer, Oladele Ogundeji, who constructed and supervised the collapsed building respectively for professional negligence.
He revealed further that the state government would also prosecute the Synagogue Church of All Nations for neglecting to obtain building approval before commencing the building, contrary to the provisions of the Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2010.