Attempts to stop the inquest into the collapse of a guest house belonging to the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) failed yesterday as the Lagos State Coroner Court sitting in Ikeja, dismissed the prohibition application before it.
The Registered Trustees of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCAON), alongside its founder, Prophet Temitope Joshua had asked the Lagos Coroner, Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, to issue a restraining order on issues relating to calling of witnesses in respect of the building approval or material tests of the collapsed building and also suspend further action on the invitation issued to Joshua to appear before the inquest to give evidence.
The applicants filed their application based on a pending suit against the coroner before Justice Lateefat Okunnu.
But delivering his ruling on the application, yesterday, Chief Magistrate Komolafe described the application as an abuse of court process, stating that there was no automatic appeal against the findings and conclusions of a Coroner Court. Komolafe held that the proceeding before the coroner court ‘is a judicial inquiry into the cause of the collapsed guest house belonging to SCOAN which claimed the lives of 116 victims.
While stating that there was no party before the court, the Coroner declared that all the authorities cited by the counsel while adopting their written addresses had nothing to do with the proceedings.
“This court cannot adjudicate on this motion on notice as doing so would amount to operating outside the scope of a Coroner Court.” – The Sun.
