Synagogue building collapse : T.B. Joshua holds memorial service

Exactly a year after 116 people died at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Prophet T.B. Joshua founder of church will today (Saturday) hold a memorial service in honour of the victims.

The building collapsed on September 12, 2014 in the Ikotun area of Lagos and 116 people, mostly South Africans, died inside the collapsed six-storey guest house owned by SCOAN.

In a statement, the church said the memorial service, which is to commemorate the first anniversary of the unfortunate incident, would hold in South Africa.

According to the church, Prophet T.B Joshua had sent a delegation from Nigeria to take part in activities leading to the memorial.

T.B. Joshua, who described deceased as Martyrs of Faith, maintained that they were on an appointment with God when they met their death and therefore believes that they did not die in vain.

He however called on the entire SCOAN family all over the world to join forces to pray for the repose of the souls of their departed.

Meanwhile, months after a Lagos coroner had passed is verdict calling for the prosecution of the contractors that handled the building of the collapsed structure, experts have warned that the government might have been chasing shadows rather than focus on the real issues that led to the tragedy.

The experts, which include Captain Michael Oyediran, blasts specialist in the late General Adekunle-led 3rd Marine Commandoes during the Nigerian Civil War and Retired Captain ‘Tele Olagundoye also of the 3rd Marine Commandoes observed that the way the building collapsed questions the security consciousness of the government, especially in an era when terrorism is becoming highly scientific and sophisticated.

Oyediran said he was alarmed at the September 12 incident and how government inquest handled the matter.

“Considering the evidence of those engineers and the scientist, I became very worried because infrasound implosion was used in my time during the Nigerian Civil War”, he noted.