Synagogue Church contractors regain freedom

The contractors that handled the
construction of the collapsed Synagogue, Church
Of All Nations, SCOAN, building, Akinbola
Fatiregun and Oladele Ogundeji, were yesterday
released from the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons
after meeting all their bail conditions.

The two engineers had been remanded in prison
pending trial for charges of manslaughter and
criminal negligence, levelled against them by the
Lagos State Government. Following the ruling of
the judge that they be remanded in prison
custody, their bail application was filed and
subsequently granted, although meeting its
conditions took a while due to their stringent
nature.

Having been released, the engineers are
expected to be in court today, for the
continuation of their trial. Meanwhile, at the
resumed trial yesterday, counsel to defendants
cross-examined the witness representing the
Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute,
NIBRRI and the Council Of Registered Engineers
in Nigeria, COREN, Engineer Victor Oyenuga.

Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) pointed out to the witness
the fact that there was no proof of any
correspondence between NIBRRI and COREN
regarding the report of the committee said to
have been set up by COREN which suggested that
structural faults were responsible for the tragic
incident.

The implication of the foregoing, he said, was
that the report could have been the mischievous
creation of some people with a sinister motive
to rubbish the reputation of the engineers who
constructed the building.