The Lagos state government has appointed a coroner to make inquest into the circumstances that led to the collapse of a six storey hostel building at Synagouge Church of all Nations, Ikotun, Lagos.
The Coroner in this case is Magistrate O. A. Komolafe, who also sat as Coroner in the Dana Air crash case.
The state government instituted the Coroner’s inquest under the Lagos State Coroner’s System Law No. 7 of 2007.
It was instituted for the purpose of establishing the cause and manner of the recent incident of a collapsed building within the premises of the Synagogue Church of All Nations at Ikotun Egbe, Lagos and the several deaths that followed.
A total of 115 persons, majorly South Africans, allegedly died in the September 12, 2014 collapsed building.
A statement issued yesterday by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ade Ipaye, said the inquest will hold at the premises of the High Court of Lagos State, Oba Akinjobi Way, Ikeja.
The statement said the inquest was instigated by Ipaye under section 15 of the Coroner Law which provides that a Coroner shall hold an inquest whenever he is informed that the death of a deceased person lying within his Coroner District was as a result of a violent, unnatural or suspicious occurrence.
Ipaye emphasised that the Coroner has extensive powers to investigate the cause and circumstances of death and bring his findings and recommendations to the attention of appropriate authorities.
“In doing this, he has all the powers of a magistrate to summon and compel the attendance of witnesses, including medical examiners, and require them to give evidence, produce documents or present other relevant materials.
“The law requires the verdict of a Coroner as certified in writing to be forwarded to the State Attorney General and such verdict may form the basis of criminal prosecutions depending on the evidence collected.”
The statement added that the Coroner is expected to announce his sitting and visitation schedules and other details soon.
Meanwhile the state government has called on family members of victims of the collapsed building to submit samples that can aid forensic identification and DNA analysis of recovered bodies.
State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, made the call yesterday, saying that the government had commenced the identification of recovered bodies from the collapsed building site.
He explained that the government considered it necessary to start forensic identification and DNA analysis of the recovered bodies in view of the need to identify each of them.
Idris appealed to family members, especially parents, children and siblings of nationals who believe their relations could have been in the collapsed building, to visit the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja from Friday September 26, 2014 to submit samples that can aid the forensic identification and DNA analysis of recovered bodies.
The Commissioner noted, however, that those eligible to give samples for the forensic identification and DNA analysis in order of preference include parents, children and siblings of the deceased.
Sayelba Times 