The Tragedy T.B Joshua Failed To See

Kazeem Ugbodaga Over 80 worshippers die in a six-storey building that caved-in on the premises of The Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos Like a make-believe scene in Hollywood, a six-storey building under construction at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Ikotun area of Lagos collapsed in a dramatic fashion on Friday, 12 September. The only difference is that the Synagogue building collapse was real and a tragedy unprecedented in the history of Lagos State. Over 80 corpses were removed from the ruins of the building, with 131 others sustaining varying degrees of injury. Indeed, it was a black day that will linger in the memory of the worshippers and the founder of the church, Prophet Temitope Joshua. The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, said the building, a guesthouse for foreign members of the church, came down in the twinkle of an eye. Church members and security personnel allegedly obstructed emergency rescuers from doing their job, driving them away from the scene until a wide-scale protest made them to relent. But by then, many of the trapped victims were dead. [caption id="attachment_10542" align="aligncenter" width="300"] •Rescue workers at the scene. Inset is T.B Joshua[/caption]According to NEMA’s spokesman, Ibrahim Farinloye, the building was originally two storeys but was raised to six, adding that the additional floors were being constructed when it collapsed around 1.00 p.m. that Friday. “The church members were very aggressive and tried attacking emergency responders. Before emergency responders’ arrival, about 15 were said to have been rescued alive and three dead. Many are said to be still trapped,” he said. On site to rescue those trapped in the debris were officials of NEMA, Lagos State Emergency Management Authority, LASEMA; Lagos State Fire Service, police, and Red Cross, among others. For over four days, rescue operation had not been concluded and tales of gloom emanated from the scene as corpse after corpse was brought out of the rubble, leading to weeping and wailing. The deaths in the tragedy cut across the divides, with foreign nationals being the largest number of dwellers at the collapsed guesthouse. South Africa alone lost 67 citizens to the tragedy, according to its president, Jacob Zuma, even as reports say at least 300 South Africans were at The Synagogue last week when the guest house collapsed. President Zuma said that at least 67 South Africans were killed when the building collapsed while extra floors were being added to the two existing floors. A spokesman for South Africa’s foreign ministry said on Twitter recently that the figure of 67 needed to be treated with “caution”. Nigerian emergency services put the total death toll so far at over 80. Late last uesday, Zuma told national broadcaster SABC that an unknown number of South Africans were “not yet accounted for” and that the nation needed to “grieve together”. Zuma’s spokesman, Mac Maharaj, told SABC that the government believed that around 300 South Africans from four to five tour groups from the country were visiting the church that Friday but it was not clear how many were on the spot when the tragedy struck. “It’s a very popular church with South Africans,” he said. Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, visited the scene and expressed sadness at the loss of lives even as he described the incident as very unfortunate. While commiserating with the General Overseer of the Church, Prophet Joshua, the governor failed to specify the action his government would take to punish the church if it was proven that it did not obtain approval before erecting four more storeys to the existing two floors. The governor was aghast when he saw the large number of staff crowding around the rescuers, obstructing their efforts and ordered them to stay away. “What you need to understand now is that this place is now an accident scene and so all your staff must leave this place. We need to take control of this place and let people who are trained to do this job to do so. We understand that this is an unfortunate incident; we understand their sense of sympathy and compassion. But let them allow those who are trained to do the job, take over and do the job; that is their training and it won’t make sense if they are getting in each other’s way,” he said. Joshua is popular for correctly predicting several future occurrences. He predicted the victory of the late John Atta Mills in Ghana’s presidential election and it came to pass. He predicted the missing of the Malaysia Aircraft in 2013, which came to pass early this year. He also predicted the death of Malawi President, Binguwa Mutharika, in 2012 and it came to pass. Joshua even predicted the crash last year of the plane used in conveying the late Olusegun Agagu’s body to his home town. In 2006, Joshua predicted that Nigeria would not qualify for the 2006 World Cup, which came to pass. The same man predicted that the Super Eagles would win the last African Nations Cup and Nigeria won; and several other predictions that came to reality. The precision in Joshua’s prophecy and healing prowess endeared him to many. The Synagogue Church attracts a global following of Christians who believe Joshua is able to perform miracles, including curing the ill and raising the dead. But the question many people are asking is, why was Joshua unable to foresee the collapse of the uncompleted guest house in his church, which claimed over 80 lives. Why did his prowess in prophecy not come to bear on knowing the tragedy that awaited him and his church on that fateful day? A resident of Agbado area of Lagos, Tosin Ogo-Oluwa, said he believed Joshua was a man of God, noting that: “For him not to see his own predicament is somehow mysterious; but mystery itself is something that is better left to God. It is an unfortunate incident which has claimed lives. Let us accept that it is an act of God.” Thomas Oriloye said the tragedy that befell Joshua would certainly affect his image as he is an international figure. He dismissed Joshua’s claim that it was sabotage, but noted that as a man of God who had in the past predicted events which came to pass, one expected that he would have seen the so-called attack on his church in a vision. Also, Yinus Bolaji said what happened would surely diminish Joshua’s reputation as somebody who could prophesy and see the future. “I still find it hard to believe why somebody who has prophesied great things with precision was not able to see the doom and tragedy coming to his church. Ascribing it to a bomb attack is laughable,” he said. General Manager, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, when asked whether the government would confiscate the property of Synagogue due to the collapse, was very evasive, saying that it was too early to comment on that as saving lives was more important to the government now. But stakeholders in the built industry have been calling for a thorough probe of the Synagogue tragedy, as it was believed that no approval was sought before more floors were added to the building that collapsed. But Joshua blamed the collapse on a terror attack. The pastor said this after the church showed a clip taken from CCTV footage recording events that took place before and after the six-storey building collapsed. From the footage, a plane was seen hovering in the sky four times – at 11:30 a.m., 11:43 a.m., 11:45 a.m. and 11:54 a.m. – before the building went down without something external triggering it. Fifty minutes after the plane hovered the fourth time, the structure collapsed, at exactly 12:44 p.m. In his submission, Joshua said the building might have collapsed as a result of terror attack. He said the truth behind the collapsed building would be revealed in a few weeks, adding that the last time the Boko Haram issue occurred, some journalists and the police were against the church, but that after some weeks the truth behind the attack was revealed. Joshua argued that the building, which he maintained had a solid foundation, would not have collapsed in the manner that the six-storey building came down, saying: “I was on the mountain yesterday, where I went to pray. After praying, I slept off. The place is about five minutes’ drive from here. While there, my members called me to say there was a plane trying to land. I told them not to worry, that only a helicopter could land, but they said they were worried as it was coming too close to the building, that maybe it was taking pictures. “The same jet went around Ikotun. To our surprise, after flying round Ikotun it now came back on top of this building four times... It’s here... they would show you. As we are talking now, there is a surveillance camera in here. We have a role to play, we cannot leave everything to God.” Joshua’s argument was punctured by the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Olutoyin Ayinde, who said that though investigation was still on-going, there was no proof that the church obtained a permit to add additional structures to existing ones. “We have no proof that there is a permit. Even if the building doesn’t have approval, it ought to be built professionally,” he said. He said there was no plan to seal Synagogue Church until investigation was concluded, insisting that the structure did not have building approval. He expressed his sincere condolences and sympathy with those that lost their loved ones and those that were injured in the incident, saying government was particularly saddened that innocent lives were lost. Ayinde clarified that no plans were in the offing to take over the collapsed structure site until a thorough and detailed investigation as to the cause(s) of the collapse had been concluded. He stressed that government did not arbitrarily take over properties when investigation was still on-going. He noted that government was conducting a preliminary investigation into the cause(s) of the collapse and would leave nothing to chance, and that if there was violation of any relevant planning law, residents should be assured that government would take appropriate action. “To this end, a team of engineers from the Ministry and other state government agencies are taking samples from the foundation and materials from the wreckage of the building for detailed analyses and testing to ascertain the structural integrity of the building. On the veracity of the ‘Strange Plane Theory’, alleged to have dangerously flown low over the building 50 minutes before the collapse, the Ministry had submitted the video clips, as provided by the church to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), with the coordinate of the collapsed site for investigation and professional comment,” he said. Former Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Bolaji Abosede, urged the state government to check its record to see if the church actually had approval before its construction, warning that government should not maintain double standard and adding that if the building did not have approval, the church had committed a blunder that must not be allowed to go unpunished. Also, the Council for the Regulation of Engineers inNigeria, COREN, said it would probe the collapse of the six-storey building at the church. COREN said it has received the report of a collapsed structure. A statement from COREN said: “[On] getting the news of the collapse, [COREN] immediately mobilised its team of Engineering Regulation Monitoring (ERM) inspectors to visit the site. The preliminary report of the visit has been received and this is being processed while a more detailed investigation is ongoing. “Council wishes to commiserate with the Executive Governor, the government and people of Lagos State over the loss of lives and property as a result of this unfortunate incident, and to also commiserate with the founder and General Overseer of the church, Prophet T. B. Joshua and his congregation over this unfortunate loss. It is our prayer that the souls of the departed rest in peace and that God will grant their families the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.” COREN assured Nigerians that the immediate and remote causes of the collapse would be revealed, saying it would continue to partner with the Lagos State government and others to minimise the incidence of collapsed buildings in Nigeria, adding that there was need for the public to engage qualified professionals in the execution of their construction projects.