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| Site of Synagogue's collapsed building |
The rescue operation at the site of the collapsed
six-storey building owned by the Synagogue Church of all Nations has been
concluded with tears and wailing from families who lost loved ones.
The National Emergency Management Agency and the
Lagos State Emergency Management Agency which announced that they had reached
“ground zero” on Thursday, said a total of 131 people were rescued while 80
corpses were recovered.
Some of those rescued alive, according to them,
have been discharged, while others are still receiving treatments for various
degrees of injuries at some hospitals in Lagos.
However, as emergency operations came to an end,
the church on Thursday released an official statement for the first time since
the incident occurred.
Incidentally, the statement is not any different
from what has been in the public domain.
In the statement released on Thursday, September
18, 2014, but dated Friday, September 12, 2014, the church insisted that the
incident was an attack on the church and its leader, T.B. Joshua.
The statement read in part, “The church views
this tragedy as part of an attack on the Synagogue Church of all Nations and in
particular, Prophet T.B. Joshua. In due course, God will reveal the
perpetrators of this unfortunate tragedy.”
On the reports that members of the church had
initially not cooperated with rescue teams, the church said, “It is very sad
that inaccurate reports are coming from some quarters that we are not
cooperating with the rescue teams and other agencies in collating information
and providing assistance on the incident. Contrary to this, we want to
categorically state that the church has provided assistance when and where
required and continues to do so – good Christians are good citizens.”
NEMA to train large organisations
The Spokesperson for NEMA, Ibrahim Farinloye,
said on Thursday that the incident at SCOAN had opened the eyes of the agency
to the need to train large organisations on the management of emergency
situations.
Farinloye said the agency would train emergency
marshals to help in situations such as building collapse.
He said, “We intend to start training churches
and other large organisations to have emergency marshals to handle situations
like this. This incident has opened our eyes to focus on that aspect.”
LASEMA fumigates affected area
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency said
the next phase after the rescue of victims and the clearing of rubble was to
fumigate the affected areas.
In a text message sent to our correspondent, the
agency said, “We have concluded emergency operations.
“A total of 80 bodies and 131 casualties were
recovered and they are receiving medical attention in various Lagos State
hospitals. Fumigation of the area will commence immediately.”
Punch
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