From Suleiman Idris, Lagos
The Synagogue, Church of All Nations (SCOAN) on Wednesday, finally filed a comprehensive list of the names of lodgers at its guest house which collapsed at Ikotun area of Lagos, before the Coroner Court investigating the circumstances that led to the collapse of the guest house.
The inquest presided over by Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, had repeatedly asked the church to make the list available on the request of the Pathologist and Chief Medical Examiner of the state, Professor John Obafunwa, since the list would aid proper identification of the bodies recovered from the collapsed guest house.
Obafunwa had, in his testimony before the court on Tuesday, stressed the importance of the lodgers’ list which would aid the release of the bodies to their respective families and that it would also aid the quick submission of his final report, which he promised would be ready in three weeks.
The Lagos State Government had constituted the Coroner’s Inquest under the Lagos State Coroner’s System Law No. 7 of 2007, to investigate the cause and circumstances resulting in the death of 166 people following the collapse of the six-storey guest house and bring its findings and recommendations to the appropriate authorities.
Magistrate Komolafe acknowledged receiving the lodgers’ list and also stressed the importance of the list to the inquest.
“The Church yesterday furnished the court with the list and this would go a long way in clarifying so many pending issues,” he said.
