15 Die, Scores Injured at Pastor TB Joshua’s Church

Disaster struck yesterday at the headquarters of the popular pastor TB Joshua’s Synagogue of All Nation Church in Ikotun, a Lagos suburb when a six-storey building under re-construction in the premises collapsed at about 1pm, killing 15 members.


Located behind the main structure, the collapsed building was identified as the Guest House section of the sprawling compound housing the SCOAN headquarters.

According to reports, the structure was already in existence before the church decided to add two more floors to it, an action emergency responders blamed for the collapse of the entire building.
According to an eyewitness, re-construction was on going in the building situated near the church’s main auditorium when a thunderous explosion was heard, thus burying the construction workers, said to be about 65 underneath its rubbles.

According to the coordinator of Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), Mrs. Adekemi Ogusaga the collapsed building was already in use with an eatery on the first floor while the remaining five floors served as guest house.

Ogusaga, who coordinates BCPG’s activities in Igando/Ikotun areas said: “We suspect they want to cover up the whole thing, particularly when nobody could get pass the gate and high fence. A policeman came to where I was and asked for the owner of the vehicle and I said it was mine and he asked me to move.”

As at press time, several other members and construction workers were still buried under the rubbles of the building while rescue workers were battling to save them.

Those rescued, with varying degrees of injuries are recuperating at Isolo and Gbagada General hospitals. 18 persons including three children have so far been rescued.

Sources said those still trapped under the debris included foreigners, the kitchen staff and some of the construction workers.

It was gathered that some of the victims who were rushed to nearby hospitals were rejected because of the fear of the Ebola Virus Disease. As a result, they were re-directed to both the Isolo and Gbagada General hospitals.

Despite attempts by traffic managers, the incident created a serious gridlock, spreading to all parts of Ikotun and its neighbouring communities including Jakande, Ejigbo, Idimu, Ijegun Road and Oke Afa.

Initial rescue work was hampered by the surging crowd and to disperse them, the policemen from Area M who were deployed to the scene shot sporadically into the air.

Speaking to THISDAY, one of the traders around the place simply identified as Okey said: "We were busy trading when we heard a loud noise. We first thought Boko Haram had finally succeeded in coming to Ikotun.

"Although our initial reaction was to run away; we later regrouped and when we came back, we saw that it was a structure in Synagogue that had collapsed. Many ambulances were brought to take away both the corpses and the injured."

In an interview with THISDAY, the South-west spokesperson of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Ibrahim Farinloye said about 15 people were rescued while some people were still trapped under the collapsed building.

Farinloye said: "Nobody can give information on the exact number of people who died or are trapped in the building as at now until we conclude the rescue and evacuations exercises."

The Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe also said the number of dead could not be ascertained for now until the entire rescue operation was concluded.

Although initial rescue operation was carried out by emergency agencies, THISDAY however gathered that it was aborted midway because of the hostility exhibited by the members of the church, who became a hindrance.

Some of the emergency responders were the Lagos State Fire Service, Nigeria Police Force, Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), amongst others.

According to Farinloye, the operation was aborted, even though people were still trapped, because the church officials and members attacked the emergency workers.

He said, "The church attacked emergency workers including the LASEMA General Manager, Dr. Femi Osayintolu and some journalists.

"When we moved in, it was difficult to get access because they were not cooperative. They resisted our attempts to help because they said they are capable of doing the rescue work alone.
"Meanwhile, some people are still trapped there even up till now (as at 6pm). The stakeholders decided to move out after we had called for a meeting with the representatives of the church and they ignored us.

"Instead, they started attacking us. We saw the threat inherent in prolonging our stay and so we all agreed to leave because the lives of emergency workers are also important."

Also, the church members and their officials alongside some over-zealous policemen prevented journalists from going in and even went as far as seizing cameras and destroying phones of anyone who attempted to take pictures of the building.

story by Chiemelie Ezeobi and Chinaze Megbolu