Absence of prosecution witness stalls trial

Absence of the sixth prosecution witness on Thursday stalled the trial of two engineers over the collapse of the guest house of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN).

The engineers are Akinbela Fatiregun and Oladele Ogundeji.

They are standing trial before an Ikeja High Court.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mrs Idowu Alakija, the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), told the court that the Sixth Prosecution Witness (PW6) was overseas.

“PW6 was expected to come in for this matter from overseas, but we received a last minute phone call from him that he would not be able to make it to the country.

“I humbly request that the court gives us at least a week to enable our witness to be able to come to court,” she said.

There were no objections to the request by defence counsel – Chief Efe Akpofure (SAN), Mrs Titi Akinlawon (SAN) and Mr Olalekan Ojo.

Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo consequently adjourned the case to Feb. 17 for continuation of trial.

Fatiregun and Ogundeji and their companies; Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Ltd., alongside the trustees of SCOAN, are facing a 111-count charge of gross negligence and criminal manslaughter.

About 116 persons died in the collapse of the seven-storey guest house, which occurred on Sept. 12, 2014. Eighty-five of them were South Africans.

Five prosecution witnesses have testified in the trial. They include Prof. John Obafunwa, the Chief Medical Examiner of Lagos State, and Mr Toyin Ayinde, a former Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development.