Following the recent incident of a collapsed building within the premises of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) at Ikotun Egbe, Lagos, a Coroner’s Inquest has been instituted under the Lagos State Coroner’s System Law No. 7 of 2007 for the purpose of establishing the cause and manner of the incident and the several deaths that followed.
The inquest was initiated by the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, under section 15 of the Coroner Law which provides that a Coroner shall hold an inquest whenever he is informed that the death of a deceased person lying within his Coroner District was as a result of a violent, unnatural or suspicious occurrence.
A statement signed by the Public Relations Officer in the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Bola Akingbade, Friday said the Coroner has extensive powers to investigate the cause and circumstances of death and bring his findings and recommendations to the attention of appropriate authorities. In doing this, he has all the powers of a magistrate to summon and compel the attendance of witnesses, including medical examiners, and require them to give evidence, produce documents or present other relevant materials.
The Law requires the verdict of a Coroner as certified in writing to be forwarded to the State Attorney General and such verdict may form the basis of criminal prosecutions depending on the evidence collected.
The Coroner in this case is Magistrate O. A. Komolafe, who also sat as Coroner in the Dana Air Crash case. He is expected to announce his sitting/visitation schedules and other details and to hold the inquest at the premises of the High Court of Lagos State, Oba Akinjobi Way, Ikeja.
SCOAN is led by Prophet TB Joshua.
