Murder at the synagogue: Police may prosecute T.B. Joshua

Joshua

The Police may prosecute Pastor Temitope Joshua of the Synagogue Church of All Nations over the collapse of a six-storey building in the church premises if he is found culpable by its investigative panel.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, who said this on Thursday in Abuja, said investigation into the cause of the collapsed building in the Synagogue Church of All Nations was progressing, noting that the outcome of the probe would determine whether Pastor Temitope Joshua, would be prosecuted or not.

He explained that the police would prosecute the prophet if found guilty but that it was too early to speculate about the outcome of the investigation into the cause of the building collapse.

The investigation being anchored by detectives from the Lagos State Police Command, it was learnt, would determine whether Joshua was culpable for the incident in which about 115 people lost their lives.

If indicted by the probe, Joshua, who pastors the church, may be charged for culpable homicide for the avoidable deaths of his congregants, most of whom were South Africans, Nigerians and nationals of other African countries.

Ojukwu told one of our correspondents that the Police detectives were hard at work, probing the building collapse, adding that the report of the investigation would be made public at the appropriate time.

He said, “We are investigating the collapsed building and it is too early to speak on the outcome of the probe because the investigation has not been concluded yet, but the outcome would determine whether the pastor of the church will be prosecuted or not.”

The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners had earlier challenged the Lagos State Government to apply the full weight of the criminal law against anyone found culpable for the collapse of the Synagogue building.

The National President, NITP, Chief Steve Onu, noted that the enforcement of relevant laws and appropriate sanctions against errant builders would serve as deterrent to those who love cutting corners when building.

He said, “If what has happened is considered a criminal act, criminal law should be pursued to its conclusion; there is a penalty for negligence, so they should carry out proper investigation even up to the approving agencies. Somebody is supposed to ensure that that building does not continue, so the government investigation should not be limited to Synagogue.

“As much as much as possible, the searchlight should be extended to the approving agencies. Did they give approval? The people who built, did they build according to approval and if they did not give approval then it is an illegal structure, so whatever penalty the law says in respect of illegal structure, should be followed.”

The collapsed building was initially two floors until four floors were added to it, a fact that has brought up the possibility of that being the cause of the accident.

Media reports have indicated that a team has been constituted to investigate the collapse, a development which was confirmed by a source in the force.

“A team has been constituted in which the Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, is a member but their (SCOAN’s) criminal negligence does not come up at this moment. I believe that would be made known in due course,” our source said.

Another source, a police officer, who also confirmed that the police were involved in the investigation into the synagogue incident, explained that it was “too early to speak of criminal negligence” at this time.

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