Jonathan visits Synagogue over tragedy

President Goodluck Jonathan has visited the headquarters of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCON), where a building collapsed on September 12, killing about 86 persons and leaving many others injured.

Jonathan visited the church ahead of his trip to the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, where a rally of the southwest zone of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held on Saturday.

Commiserating with the general overseer of the church, Prophet Temitope Joshua, and the church members, the president revealed that he had summoned a meeting of all the 36 state governors to take policy decisions concerning the erection of high-rise buildings anywhere in the country.

“Today when I arrive Lagos, my first port of call was where a six-storeyed building that collapsed. About 80 people were confirmed dead, and 131 people were injured,” he said.

“It is a very sad story, very sad incident to us and the international community because most of the people that died in that building collapse were not ‎Nigerians. In fact, majority of them are South Africans.

“I spoke with the president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, to first express our own sentiments and condolences to the president and people of that country.”

Also addressing reporters on Saturday, Ibrahim Farinloye, the south-west coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, said “the president came to the church this morning to see things for himself,” adding that he met with Prophet T.B. Joshua and expressed his condolences to the bereaved families.

He said Jonathan had promised to investigate the cause of the collapse.

Meanwhile, the Lagos state government has revealed that the church had no approval before proceeding to construct additional storey buildings to the guest house.

Mrs. Abimbola Animashaun, the general manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, revealed this while speaking to journalists.

“We have investigated and found that they had no approval for the additional structures. Even the main church, which they have added about three floors on,” she said.

”You cannot have an existing building and start putting up more buildings on it. Before you can do anything like that, you must confirm that the structure is still stable and can stand additional buildings.”

Some buildings within the church premises have also been marked for investigation.

Founder of the church, Pastor T.B. Joshua, had attributed the incident to a strange aircraft that flew around the building a few minutes before it collapsed.