According to Punch newspaper, the coroner probing the September 12 Synagogue building collapse presided over by Magistrate O.A. Komolafe, has dismissed an application seeking a temporary suspension of the inquest.
Komolafe, while dismissing the application on Wednesday, described it as an abuse of court processes.
The Founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Prophet Temitope Joshua, filed the application asking Komolafe to put on hold further inquisition into the cause of death of the victims of the collapsed building.
No fewer than 116 persons lost their lives while several others sustained varying degrees of injuries in the tragic incident.
Joshua’s application for stay of proceedings, dated November 11, 2014, came on the heels of an application he had filed before a Lagos State High Court in Ikeja.
In the said application before Justice Lateefat Okunnu, Joshua asked for a judicial review of the coroner’s proceedings, which began on October 13.
Among others, he had asked the court to determine whether the witness summons served on him to appear before the coroner to give testimony was not a violation of his fundamental right.
He further contended that the coroner had been extending his inquisitions into areas beyond his statutory purview.
According to Joshua’s lawyer, Mr. Olalekan Ojo, the duty of the coroner was limited to determining what killed the victims of the collapsed building and nothing more.
Ruling on Joshua’s application for a stay of proceeding on Wednesday, Komolafe held that Joshua had no premise upon which to bring the application before him.
The coroner said that since there were no parties such as applicants and respondents or plaintiffs and defendants in the coroner’s court but only witnesses and interested parties, it would amount to him acting beyond his statutory power to grant the stay of proceedings that Joshua had asked for.
He therefore adjourned till Friday, December 12, 2014 to proceed with the inquest.