TB Joshua fails to appear in court

TB Joshua, founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nation (SCOAN), was absent at the Lagos state high court on Monday to face trial over the death of 116 persons during the collapse of a building in his church.

The engineers of the building also failed to appear in court, forcing the judge to adjourn the trial to December 11.

On Sunday, the Lagos state government announced that the affected persons will be arraigned in court.

“The trustees of ‎Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) will on Monday, November 30, 2015 be arraigned before a Lagos state high court in Ikeja over the collapse of a six-story building in the church on September 12, 2014, which led to the death of 116 persons,” read a statement issued by the ministry of justice.

“Senior pastor of the church, Prophet T.B Joshua is one of the trustees. The trustees will be arraigned before Justice Lawal Akapo alongside the engineers that constructed the collapsed building.”

Oluwaseun Abimbola, counsel to the engineers, blamed their absence on the failure of the ministry of justice to serve them with court papers.

Responding, Adeniji Kazeem, attorney-general and commissioner of justice, explained that the ministry could not locate them to serve the papers because they did not have valid addresses.

The judge ordered that the notices be served within 72 hours and cautioned the defendants not to trivialise the trial, which he referred to as a “criminal case”.

“Service in any proceeding is fundamental and anything done outside of this is a nullity,” he ruled.

“The defence counsel is hereby directed to oblige the prosecution team with valid addresses of the 3rd, 4th and 5th defendant within 72 hours.”

The coroner inquest, which the Lagos state government set up to probe the accident, indicted the church authorities and the engineers of the building, recommending them for investigation and prosecution for criminal negligence.

Joshua refused to appear before the inquest despite several summons, forcing the coroner to threaten him with arrest.

Most of those who died in the tragic incident were South Africans.