News

Synagogue Building Collapse: Police Chief Says Aircraft Flew Low over Building

Published

7 years ago

May 12, 2018

Eric

An Assistant Commissioner of Police, Alaba Haruna, on Friday told a Lagos High Court that an aircraft flew over Synagogue Church of All Nations building at Ikotun-Egbe, a Lagos suburb, just before it collapsed on September 12, 2014, killing 116 people.

He said one of his patrol teams observed an aircraft flying low over the church and other buildings in the premises.

Mr Haruna testified before Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo of an Igbosere High Court on Lagos Island as a defence witness in the trial of the registered trustees of the church and four others.

The church opened its defence in a one-count charge of building without approval brought against it by the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) following the dismissal of its no-case submission on March 8, 2016.

The other defendants are the two engineers who built the building: Messrs Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, and their companies, Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Ltd.

Apart from the trustees’ one-count charge, the other defendants are facing a 110-count bordering on involuntary manslaughter.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Haruna, Area Commander of the Eastern Ports Command, Port Harcourt, Rivers, was the Divisional Police Officer at Ikotun-Egbe at the time the building collapsed.

He was led in evidence by the trustees counsel, Oluseye Diyan.

Mr Haruna said: “On that fateful day on September 12, 2014 at 12.30 p.m., there was a radio communication from the police control room at Ikeja that they were receiving calls from the public of an aircraft flying at low altitude over the church.

“I was directed by the Area Command to confirm the incident and monitor the aircraft’s activities.

“I wanted to go out and direct my men to watch out for the aircraft when I received another report of an airplane flying at a very low altitude. I went outside but I couldn’t see it, by that time it had gone.

“I received a call later from Insp. Lucky Ugbaja, stationed at the church that one of the church’s buildings had collapsed.”

According to him, the radio room had earlier radioed the Police Airport Command to confirm whether it was carrying out any activity in the church vicinity.

Mr Haruna said when he arrived at the church’s premises there was a large crowd and the few police officers there were trying to manage the situation.

He said onlookers kept trooping in and the crowd spilled to the roads outside the church, causing serious gridlock.

“We were overwhelmed,” Mr Haruna told the judge, adding that he called for more police officers and were provided.

According to him, the floors of the collapsed building were lying one on the other, “the church members and others at the scene were engaged in rescue operations.

“Those I met there were church worshipers; they were bringing out so many people from under the rubble. Most of the victims were alive. Some were injured, some were not.

“Later the Red Cross, Life Savers, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) arrived and joined us in the rescue.”

He said the rescue mission lasted about seven days.

During cross-examination by the prosecutor, Babajide Martins, Mr Haruna insisted that he could not recall any instance when LASEMA officials or the then Commissioner for Physical Planning, Toyin Ayinde, were prevented by the church members from gaining access to the site of the collapsed building.

He said:“Apart from the LASEMA GM who said he had a herculean task passing through the crowd, no other had problems passing through.

When Mr Martins asked him why he concluded that the rescuers were church members or worshipers, Haruna said: “Commonsense suggests that they were.”

Following the prosecution’s application for an adjournment, Mr Lawal-Akapo adjourned further proceedings until June 28.

(NAN)

News

Ex-Polaris Bank Chief Remanded in Prison Custody for Alleged Fraud

Published

5 days ago

November 19, 2024

Eric

The Special Offences Court sitting in the Ikeja area of Lagos State, on Monday, remanded a former branch manager of Polaris Bank, Abiodun Sanni, at the Ikoyi Custodial Centre for alleged multi-million naira fraud.

Sanni was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 16-count charge bordering on obtaining credit by false pretences, forgery, use of false documents, and stealing.

The EFCC counsel, Orhieoghene Adewunmi, told the court that Sanni committed the offences at the Iju branch of the bank in Lagos on February 24, 2020.

The lawyer stated that the defendant, as the branch manager of Polaris Bank, obtained from the bank a credit sum of N17 million in form of a loan.

He said Sanni collected the loan on the pretext that the loan had collateral in the form of a fixed deposit worth N111.1 million, which belonged to one Yinkus Multi-biz Ventures.

The EFCC lawyer also alleged that the former bank manager dishonestly converted a Polaris Bank fixed deposit account worth N15.1 million, belonging to one Joshua Atolagbe, to his personal use.

According to Adewunmi, the alleged offences contravene Sections 36(1), 278(1), 313(1)(a), 361 (1) and 364 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Sanni, however, pleaded not guilty to all the counts preferred against him.

Adewunmi urged the court to remand the defendant.

“My lord the prosecution intends to call 10 witnesses in this case. We urge the court to remand the defendant in custody in view of his not-guilty plea,” the EFCC lawyer said.

The defence counsel, Osho Oludoshu, told the court that he had filed a bail application.

The presiding judge, Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe, thereafter, remanded Sanni at the custodial centre.

Justice Abike-Fadipe adjourned the case to March 6, 2025, for the commencement of trial.

News

INEC Declares APC’s Aiyedatiwa Winner of Ondo Guber Election

Published

1 week ago

November 17, 2024

Eric

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, as the winner of the just concluded Ondo State governorship election, held on Saturday, November 16, 2024.

The Returning Officer for the election Olayemi Akinwumi, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State declared Aiyedatiwa winner of the election on Sunday, extending the governor’s stay at the Government House in Alagbaka, Akure.

Governor Aiyedatiwa polled 366,781 votes to defeat his closest rival and a former deputy governor of the state Ajayi Agboola who flew the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag. He scored 117,845 votes, more than twice lower than the APC candidate.

“That Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa of the APC having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” the returning officer said at exactly 2:30 pm at the INEC collation centre in Akure.

The declaration came hours after the collation of results for the election began in the early hours of Sunday. Although the collation centre went on breaks, the APC took a commanding lead with over 200,000 votes ahead of the PDP.

The final results showed that the APC won the election in a landslide, clearing all 18 local government areas.

News

PDP Chieftain Sues IGP Egbetokun over Police Invasion of Home

Published

1 week ago

November 16, 2024

Eric

A former National Deputy Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Diran Odeyemi has filed a fundamental rights suit against the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.

Also joined in the suit is the Osun State Commissioner of Police.

The suit dated November 7, 2024, was filed before a Federal High Court in Osogbo, Osun State capital.

In an affidavit in support of originating summons, Odeyemi accused armed agents of the defendants of invading his residence at Ibadan on October 26, without prior notice.

The plaintiff said the invasion of his residence and attempt to unlawfully arrest him was part of plans by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to silence leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State.

Odeyemi alleged that the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje on 20th of October, 2024, declared in Akure, Ondo State capital that the party had a secret strategy to recapture Osun State for APC, adding that what played out at his residence was part of the broader plans of the APC.

The plaintiff asked the court to determine where the attempt and threat by the defendants and their agents to arrest him on wilful investigation of some stalwarts of the APC do not constitute an infringement of his fundamental rights to personal liberty, freedom of movement, expression and association.

The ground of the originating summons includes, “The plaintiff by virtue of sections 35, 39, 40, 41 and 46 under Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and under the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights is entitled to enjoy his rights to personal liberty, freedom of movement, freedom of expression and freedom of association.

‘The Plaintiff, being a citizen of Nigeria, has the right to move freely without any inhibition, express his thoughts, associate freely, and enjoy his dignity without being harassed, intimidated,d, or hindered in any way or manner.

“The Defendants and their officers are rigorously attempting to violate the plaintiff’s fundamental rights to personal liberty, freedom of movement freedom of expression, and freedom of association by threatening and planning to intimidate, harass, molest, and unlawfully arrest and detain him on wilful instigation of some politicians within the All Progressives Congress who are hellbent on framing the Plaintiff in order to silence him, as part of the All Progressives Congress secret strategy to recapture Osun State and wrestle power from the Peoples Democratic Party in the State., come 2026.

“The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress boastfully stated in Akure on the 20th October 2024 that the APC had a secret strategy to recapture Osun State from the Peoples Democratic Party but that he would not reveal the secret and his threatening statement was widely reported in the media.

“In what appears like the commencement of the secret political machinations, the agents of the Defendants, at the instance of some APC politicians and without having ever invited the Plaintiff, invaded the Plaintiff’s home on the 26th day of October 2024 in an attempt to unlawfully arrest, detain, harass and intimidate the Plaintiff but they failed because the Plaintiff was not in the country”