Witness Tells Court How Aircraft Flew On Synagogue Church Before Collapse

The ACP disclosed this in his testimony during the ongoing trial of the Registered Trustees of SCOAN and four others, over the collapsed building on September 12, 2014, that killed 116 people. SCOAN and the two engineers who constructed the building: Messrs Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, alongside their companies, Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Limited, are standing trial on 110 counts of involuntary manslaughter. While being cross-examined by Lagos State counsel, Dr Babajide Martins, before Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo, ACP Haruna said when he got the radio message, it showed that it caused concern. He told the court that he was in his office when he got the message from his patrol team who observed an aircraft flying low over the Synagogue Church building. Earlier, the witness in his testimony had told the Court that there was no panic when he received the radio message that a plane was flying low. He said, “I was in my office when I got the message before I got to the scene, they said the building has collapsed. There was no report of panic that plane was flying low.” Haruna further told court that the Inspector General of Police set up the panel to looked into the incident. “Police at SCID Panti also carried out the investigation in this matter. We had commenced the preliminary investigation before Panti carried out their own investigation. I don’t know if the police have concluded their investigations on the collapsed building.” At the last adjourned date, Haruna, Area Commander of the Eastern Ports Command, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, told the court that he was the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the Ikotun Egbe Police Station, Lagos, at the time the building collapsed. Led in examination-in-chief by SCOAN Trustees counsel, Mr Oluseye Diyan, the witness said, “On that fateful day on September 12, 2014 at about 12:30 hours, 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 Inspector 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 SCOAN vicinity. Haruna said when he arrived at the church’s premises there was a large crowd and the few policemen there were trying to manage the situation. More onlookers kept trooping in and the crowd spilled to the roads outside the church, causing serious traffic gridlock. “We were overwhelmed,” Haruna told the judge, adding that he called for more policemen, which was provided. However, Justice Lawal-Akapo, adjourned the case till October 4, for continuation of trial.]]>