A Federal High Court in Lagos presided over by Justice Buba is set to hear a suit seeking to prevent the Lagos State Government from enforcing the recent Coroner’s indictment of the Synagogue Church of all Nations on Monday.
The Coroner’s inquest into the collapse of a building belonging to the church delivered a ruling in which it, among other things, indicted SCOAN for criminal negligence and recommended that the church be prosecuted.
The guest house, which collapsed on September 12, 2014, killed 116 people, mostly South Africans.
The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, had pledged to enforce the verdict to the letter, vowing to seek justice for the victims of the disaster “no matter the circumstances.”
He had ordered law enforcement agencies to arrest the indicted persons and enforce the verdict.
But in a move to forestall the enforcement, the indicted engineers of the church had approached the Federal High Court, seeking the enforcement of their fundamental human rights to fair hearing, human dignity and personal liberty as provided under Sections 34, 35 and 36 of the Constitution.
They claimed that the Nigeria Police, the Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria and the Lagos State Government (Respondents) will act upon the Coroner’s findings by proceeding to arrest, investigate and/or prosecute them for criminal negligence.
They also contend that if these actions were carried out by the respondents, their actions would amount to a likely breach of their fundamental human rights.
The indicted engineers are now seeking for nullification of the Coroner’s verdict; a perpetual injunction restraining the Police from arresting or interrogating them and another perpetual injunction restraining COREN from causing them to appear before any investigatory or disciplinary panel.
The Lagos State Government had filed a counter-affidavit and preliminary objections to the suit, contending, among other things, that SCOAN was granted audience at the Coroner’s court and availed the opportunity of tendering their depositions and making oral evidence.
The state also argued that the Coroner did not issue a “judicial indictment” on the applicants but made recommendations that the applicants be investigated and if found culpable, prosecuted for criminal negligence.
Lagos had also filed a Notice of Preliminary Objection on grounds that the Synagogue’s engineers’ complaints are a challenge to the Coroner’s verdict and not for the enforcement of their fundamental human rights, adding that the court lacks the jurisdiction to adjudicate over the suit, since the respondents are not agencies of the Federal Government.
However, sources at the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, who spoke on condition of anonymity, disclosed that in line with Ambode’s pledge to the citizens, the government would pursue the enforcement of the Coroner’s verdict to its logical conclusion to ensure the victims of the disaster get justice.
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