Expert tells court T.B. Joshua’s church foundation didn’t fail
Peter Fowoyo
A Lagos state High Court, Igbosere on Thursday heard that the foundation of the Synagogue of All Nations Church (SCOAN) did not fail.
The defence witness, Ebenezer Ologuntoye, who is a member of the Nigerian Geotechnical Association told Justice Lateef Lawal – Akapo, that findings of the tests carried out on the collapsed building revealed that the foundation of the building did not fail and the baring capability was adequate.
The defendants, Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun alongside their companies – Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Limited are standing trial on a 110-count charge of involuntary manslaughter.
Led-in evidence by the defence counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), the witness said he belongs to a non-governmental organization known as “Building Collapse and Protection Guild” that is interested in reducing incidents of building collapse to the barest minimum.
The witness told Justice Lawal-Akapo that he has worked with renowned organizations in Nigeria and the Diaspora.
According to Ologuntoye, he got to know about the collapse of the church building through BCPG when he was selected as a member of the committee saddled with the responsibility of investigating the possible causes of the collapsed building.
“As a geotechnical engineer, I was expected to investigate what happened to the foundation, the soil on which the foundation stands was okay. I investigated the soil using two major equipments, namely; the geotechnical borehole and a dutch -comb, an electrical testing machine. Both equipments were gotten from BCPG.
“Sample of the soil gotten through the borehole test was sent to the University of Lagos laboratory for analysis while the dutch-comb test result was gotten on the spot of the test and it was signed by all parties at the site.
