Nigeria preacher Temitope Balogun, TB Joshua has shot himself by admitting to killing 116 church followers having cut corners on building procedures last year September, legal analysts charge.
In a full written statement released soon after yesterday’s verdict by the Coroner in charge which found him criminally liable, TB Joshua admitted cutting corners in constructing the 5 floor-giant building which soon after collapsed on the 12th September killing the church followers two of them Zimbabweans.
One of the deceased was ZimEye.com news reader and MDC politician Greenwich Ndanga.
Revealing also that he is not appealing the coroner’s findings, Joshua in his full statement (re-published below) in which he maintained earlier suggestions that an aircraft flying in the area caused the disaster, admitted adding additional floors without planning approval (permission). ALSO READ:
– THE COURT VERDICT
– Expert Comment: “No Connection Whatsoever Between Building Collapsing and the Plane”
TB Joshua on Thursday posted a video claiming that the manner in which the building fell is inconsistent with structural failure, but numerous videos of collapsing buildings reveal the contrary and experts not only in Nigeria but worldwide attest that his church hostel was clumsily built. In the below two other building collapses show a similar SCOAN fashion:
“……there was evidence that the church had started processing the relevant building approval before the incident, which had been approved and assessed for payment by the appropriate government bodies,…. ” his legal statement read. Full statement below:
OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM THE SYNAGOGUE, CHURCH OF ALL NATIONS IN RESPECT OF THE VERDICT GIVEN BY THE LAGOS CORONER’S COURT RELATING TO THE INCIDENT THAT HAPPENED ON SEPTEMBER 12TH 2014
The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) rejects the verdict of the coroner on the grounds that it is unreasonable, one-sided and biased. The church maintains its stand that the incident was as a result of sabotage.
From the verdict given today, we would like the public to take note of the following:
There was no finding that the church engaged the services of unqualified or incompetent professionals for the construction of the building.
There was no finding that the church procured substandard materials for the construction of the building, as confirmed by officials of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) who gave evidence at the coroner and certified the materials used were all approved and of good quality.
There was evidence that the church had started processing the relevant building approval before the incident, which had been approved and assessed for payment by the appropriate government bodies.
There was no finding that connected the incident with the lack of a building permit.
There was no finding that church members prevented the statutory responders from carrying out their rescue duties.
The church disagrees most vehemently with the finding that the incident was due to structural failure.
The church considers it strange that the coroner did not refer in its verdict to the evidence of the COREN-registered structural engineer and contractor used by the church nor did it evaluate the conflicting evidence given by civil and structural engineers as to whether or not the incident was as a result of structural failure.
It was a one-sided verdict which left many issues unaddressed and questions unanswered.
The church disagrees with the findings concerning the aircraft that hovered over the six-storey building because there was evidence before the court that the incident could have been brought about by external forces such as controlled demolition or an explosion.
The verdict did not even refer to the CCTV footage which showed the 6-storey building falling in less than 4 seconds – a manner consistent with controlled or externally induced demolition – nor did it refer to the interim report and investigation by the Nigerian police force which pointed to sabotage by external forces.
The church also disagrees with the finding that foundation failure was a remote cause because that is contrary to the overwhelming expert evidence of the structural engineers invited to the coroner who eliminated foundation failure as a possible cause.
The recommendation for the investigation and prosecution of the contractors and structural engineers used by the church for criminal negligence is premature because it gives the impression the coroner has found them guilty when a coroner is not allowed in law to make any finding of civil or criminal liability against anybody.
The recommendation for the investigation of The SCOAN for not possessing the relevant building permits is unwarranted because it did not take into account the evidence that the church had started processing the relevant building approval before the incident. As a matter of fact, the amount payable for the processing had already been assessed by the appropriate government agencies.
The recommendation that statutory responders should be adequately equipped was informed by the fact that the statutory responders who carried out rescue operations in this case were ill-equipped and ill-trained, and that it was the church that mobilised human and material resources to ensure a successful rescue operation.
Finally, the coroner recognised that the conduct of the investigation of the incident was compromised by the failure of the appropriate government agencies to take necessary steps to secure and preserve the scene of the incident, which calls into question the integrity and reliability of the entire investigation.
This is a statement from Barr. Olalekan Ojo, legal counsel to The SCOAN.
We repeat: No matter how long a lie is sustained, the truth will someday prevail!
7 Replies to “TB Joshua Shoots Himself – FULL STATEMENT | BREAKING NEWS”
Comments are closed.
who is coroner anyway? is coroner a person or an organisation? are they pro- or anti christ
the building permits actually also help in government assessing the plans and see if the building will not be a danger to occupiers. the fact that the permits were only processed when the building was operating for years also prove that the building was probably hurried built without even getting approval reports from each stage completed as required and again i guess the church can claim again that these inspection reports were in the process of being applied for retrospectively! only an approved permit give the inspector legal basis to inspect the structure as per legally approved permit. without such a permit the qualified professional inspectors may not risk their professional careers by issuing inspection report on such unapproved structures. why was he rushing anywhere if the money and resources were there to pay afford such a building why did he not afford permit costs? was it an issue of affordability or mere negligence? he had people who could apply for the permit and push it for approval using his vast resources but he did not do so, why? was it a lack such people or its mere negligence?
SCOAN is taking people for a ride!!…how do you apply and pay for a building permit when you’re almost done with the actual building process??!! Logic says the permit should come FIRST before commencement of any building activity.
TBJ’s argument is not very different from s/body involved in an accident who then argues that he was in the process of acquiring a driver’s licence!!
The state regulators assess building plans and approve of them if the design, purpose and other conditions are met. These approvals are called building permits. They are issued before buildings are constructed not after. The fact that SCOAN is only now procuring a permit means they did not follow the law, as the construction can be deemed illegal.
Scientifically what whas the cause of the collapsing ? The irons, the concretes, the ground not solid enough, the foundations ? The coroner didn’t answer the questions. What are specialist saying ? In the examples given here i can see people waiting for something to happen. there are planned demolitions.
ZimEye, I have never read such utter trash as your write-ups about TB Joshua. You should at least maintain some form of journalistic objectivity and credibility. You clearly hate the man and that venom spews forth in every single one of your jaundiced write-ups.
Perhaps we are reading different statements but there is NOWHERE in SCOAN’s statement that they admit to anything tantamount to ‘criminal negligence’. They only agree that the building permit was only in the process of being procured – but what on earth does a lack of a permit have to do with the collapse of a building??? Also, the two videos you showcased bear no semblance whatsoever to the collapse of the SCOAN guesthouse which fell directly down in a manner of seconds with no prior warning signs of structural issues.
Please keep personal opinions aside when you are writing news stories for the general public.
So why doesn’t SCOAN supply us with the alternative evidence which will dispel the coroner’s findings? Tell us who the plane belonged to and what kind of weapon was used to demolish the building which can only be accessed by those who attacked SCOAN. How the plane was never detected by radar?
Why did TB JOSHUA refuse to come to court as a prophet to spiritually explain what happened, he was given several chances?