Despite the guilty verdict of a commission of inquiry it set up, the Akwa Ibom State Government has absolved Pastor Akan Weeks of blame for the collapse of his Reigners Bible Church building in 2016.
A government white paper on the incident released on Monday said the cleric was not to blame for the collapse which claimed 27 lives, according to official figures.
Weeks was being consecrated as a bishop in a service attended by the state governor, Udom Emmanuel, when the church building, which was under construction, caved in.
While authorities said 27 persons died and 37 were left injured, unofficial sources put the casualty figures at many times the given figure.
The state governor barely escaped with his life in the incident.
Days after the incident, the government had set up a Commission of Inquiry headed by retired justice Umoekoyo Essang to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the incident.
In its report submitted to the state government, the commission had indicted Weeks of “undue interference” in the construction work which led to the collapse of the church building.
An excerpt of the report quoted by Vanguard read: “His (Mr Week’s) adamant posture of unbridled impunity as the General Overseer of Reigners Bible Church led to the unfortunate incident of 10 December, 2016.”
In the same vein, the commission declared that the church did not obtain the necessary permits from government to put up the building and construction work on the project was illegally accelerated to enable the consecration service take place inside the building.
“Facts available indicate that Apostle (Dr.) Akan Weeks relied on the professionals he engaged.
“It is the obligation of the professionals to execute due care and skill in the discharge of their duties or resign where they are not allowed to do so,” the state government said in the white paper.
It however blamed negligence and unprofessionalism for the incident, saying that two persons involved in the construction would be prosecuted for their roles in the events leading to the collapse.