A consultant to the Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory, Engineer Ariyori Saheed has admitted that there are discrepancies in the documents he submitted to the coroner.
While undergoing cross-examination by counsel to The SCOAN, Olalekan Ojo,the structural engineer could not give any cogent reasons for the discrepancies in the documents which he tendered to the coroner as sub-soil investigation report.
Even the counsel to the Lagos State government, Akingbolahan Adeniran agreed to the existence of inconsistencies and urged the coroner to grant them some time to study the documents properly before addressing the issues raised.
Counsel to The SCOAN argued that it was unfair for the structural engineer to make a categorical statement on the collapse of the building with conflicting documents which he relied upon to arrive at his conclusions. The SCOAN counsel therefore challenged the veracity of Engineer Ariyori’s claim that the building collapsed due to defects in the foundation.
It would be recalled that Engineer Ariyori had on Wednesday 4th of March told the coroner that The Synagogue, Church of All Nations building collapsed due to defects in the foundation. However, at today’s hearing, the engineer also confessed that he did not participate in the laboratory investigation that produced the report. According to him, he only authored the report based on what he read. He also admitted that he prepared it over night due to the urgency of the matter.
Stating that the discrepancies have compromised the integrity of the engineer’s earlier submission, counsel to The SCOAN, Olalekan Ojo told Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe that he suspected an ulterior motive on the part of the state counsel and witness and thereby called for fairness to be applied in the entire process.
Interestingly, Nollywood stars came in their hundreds to attend the inquest. The celebrities, who invaded the court premises from as early as 8am, expressed their solidarity with Prophet T.B Joshua who they said had been like a father to them and a role model worth celebrating. The list of the popular actors included Wale Adebayo widely known as Sango, Bayo Bankole called Boy Alinco, Ronke Oshodi-Oke, Elesho and Shitta-Bay amongst others.
Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe adjourned proceedings to Thursday, March 12, 2015
