Finally, the Aircraft that flew over Synagogue Building belongs to Nigerian Military

Finally, the Aircraft that flew over Synagogue
Building belongs to Nigerian Military
The National Airspace Management Agency
(NAMA) has finally admitted that the aircraft that
flew four times above the building at SCOAN
before its tragic symmetrical collapse belongs to
the military.
This assertion came during the continued
proceedings at the coroner’s inquest in Lagos to
determine the cause of the buildings collapse.
Prior to this, Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe
had reiterated the court’s intention not to witch-
hunt or prosecute anybody, observing that it is
only on a fact-finding mission aimed at
forestalling future recurrences.
He made this observation while receiving a fresh
application from lead counsel to The SCOAN,
Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, who asked the court to stay
action on the invitation of The SCOAN’s General
Overseer, Prophet T.B. Joshua until the
determination of the a suit which is before Justice
Lateefat Okunnu of the Federal High Court.
According to the Chief Magistrate, the court is
unbiased and not after anybody, appealing to all
invited witnesses to honour the court’s invitation
to avoid being arrested.
He eventually granted the prayer for a temporary
stay of action on the invitation of Prophet T.B.
Joshua by Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, pending outcome
of a ruling slated for Monday, 22nd December,
2014.
He further advised that the court should not be
taken for granted: “We will not add to the pains
of T.B. Joshua because we understand that his
church members are the ones who died in the
building collapse and at the same time, we will
ensure that the rule of law is respected. I will
grant your prayer, learned SAN but let it be clear
to all that the court will not tolerate any attempt
by any individual to disregard it. Nobody is
above the law. We will be compelled to prove
this if parties to this saga try to prove that they
are above the law”.
The witness representing the National Airspace
Management Agency, NAMA and Deputy General
Manager in charge of Air Traffic Operations, Mr.
Rafiq Olubukola, admitted to the court that the
aircraft that flew over the building, prior to its
collapse, was a military aircraft. However, he
claimed the aircraft flew normally and in line
with the agency’s rules and regulations. He was
not forthcoming with technical details of the
altitude, number of passengers and timing of the
said flight while being cross-examined by counsel
to The SCOAN, Olalekan Ojo.
Furthermore, his statement contradicted the
evidence presented to the court through the CCTV
footage of the incident. He claimed the aircraft
didn’t fly over the collapsed building which was
contrary to what appeared in the CCTV footage.
While The SCOAN counsel reminded him that the
police in their testimony had said his agency was
given a copy of the CCTV footage of the hovering
aircraft prior to the collapse, he denied ever
seeing such a material, adding that he only
watched the footage of the collapse on YouTube
and hence could not ascertain anything about the
timing of the flight.
Meanwhile, the contractor who handled the
construction of the collapsed building, Engineer
Akin Fatiregun of Hardrock Engineering Company
Limited, appeared in court despite being ill.
Contrary to the magistrate’s claim that the
Engineer had been evading court summons, Mr.
Fatiregun told the court that he had always been
present at the court save on three occasions when
he travelled out of the country to seek medical
attention.
The magistrate who had initially threatened to
arrest the contractor soft-pedaled when it became
very obvious to him that the contractor was ill.
He however granted the contractor’s prayer to
appear on Friday, 19 December, 2014.
Proceedings resume on Wednesday, 17 December,
2014.
Nosa Osazuwa – present during court proceedings