Nigeria: Televangelist TB Joshua and Scoan trustees to be prosecuted for church collapse
Nigeria will prosecute Temitope Balogun Joshua and other trustees of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (Scoan) for the collapse of the church building that left 116 people dead in Lagos in 2014. The controversial televangelist – known as TB Joshua – founded Scoan in 1987 after he claimed he had a vision of God asking him to build a ministry.
The church attracts thousands of worshippers every week and the building includes a guest house for visitors.
In the aftermath of the church collapse – in which many South Africans who had travelled to Lagos for the service were killed – TB Joshua refused to testify in court. He argued that the building collapsed due to a plane he claimed was flying over the church.
The claim was dismissed by the Federal High Court in Lagos, which ruled Joshua's church should be prosecuted for "criminal negligence" as the building was built without consent. A coroner inquest set up by the Lagos government indicted the engineers who constructed the building.
The engineers – Oladele Ogundeji and Mr. Akinbela Fatiregun — filed two separate suits seeking an order to restrain police from from inviting, arresting or prosecuting them. However, the Lagos court dismissed both suits.
TB Joshua, Scoan's trustees and the engineers will appear before Justice Lawal Akapo on 30 November.
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