The controversies ensuing in the wake of the verdict given by the Lagos Coroner’s Court about The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) building collapse last year show no signs of abating as a group of Northern Nigerian youths have described Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe’s judgement as a ‘rape of justice’.
According to Leadership Newspapers, ‘The Coalition of Northern Youths,’ which comprises of young people from across 19 states in Nigeria’s North, stated after an emergency meeting in Kaduna that the verdict was ‘judicial ravings’ which were ‘biased, malicious and one-sided’.
The chairman of the coalition, Alhaji Gambo Ibrahim, had strong words for the Lagos State judicial system.
“We fear that the judiciary has compromised in this case and strongly disagree with Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe that structural defects wereresponsible for the failure of the six-storey building,” he said.
According to Alh. Ibrahim, an unscrupulous plot to tarnish the image of the church’s founder T.B Joshua was at work.
“Some enemies of progress, who are equally enemies of the state, and who are not happy with the good works of Prophet TB Joshua, are bent on pulling him down,” he said, agreeing with The SCOAN’s stance that the collapse was due to external sabotage.
Ibrahim noted that the verdict especially lacked merit by failing to refer to the CCTV footage which showed the 6-storey building falling symmetricallyin less than 4 seconds, a manner consistent with controlled demolition.
The coalition then called on Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently intervene in the matter, “in view of SCOAN’s immense contributions to the socio-economic development of Nigeria as well as the spiritual well-being of its people”.
The secretary of the coalition, John Bitrus drew parallels between Joshua’s case and the Biblical saying that “a prophet is not recognised in his home.”
After the controversial ruling, The SCOAN released a statement describing the verdict as ‘unreasonable’ and questioning its integrity.