Barely two years after a guest house collapsed in the premises of Synagogue Church Of All Nations, in Ikotun, Lagos, fresh revelations have shown that the families of the
bereaved, mostly South Africans, are being supported by the church. In the accident, no fewer than 116 lives were lost amid claims and counter-claims that the church building would have come down under some bomb explosion.
Speaking on the efforts made in the last two years by the General Overseer of the church, Prophet T.B. Joshua, to reach out to the bereaved families, an adherent of the SCOAN, Mr. Tola Gabriel, told our correspondent that T.B. Joshua had on many occasions reached out to the families of the bereaved persons.
He added that it appeared that the man of God had moved on with life, while assuring relations of the deceased of his ministry’s love and care for their situation. Gabriel said, “He even instructed us to reach out to the families of the deceased in whichever way they deemed fit to assist them in getting over their irreparable losses. Prophet T.B. Joshua has described the deceased as martyrs of faith who have only transited to eternal glory. He has continuously eulogized them for the brave way they transited while seeking the face of their God on a spiritual pilgrimage.
“Though enemies of the church would always ascribe negative things to the man of God, he has consistently maintained that it is unnecessary joining issues with the world. Instead, he has channeled most of his time into catering to the needs of the less privileged in society.”
He added, “Uncountable number of people, both Nigerians and foreigners, have continued to benefit from his ministry’s milk of human kindness. Through his ministry’s Emmanuel TV Partners, millions of lives, nations and destinies have been changed across the world. According to the man of God, true love always searches for who to help whenever and wherever it is in a position to do so.
“How he has been able to maturely manage the bad press emanating from the collapsed building incident remains very phenomenal. He has maintained a calm and unperturbed disposition – a quality that can only be God-given, especially in situations of crisis.”
Meanwhile, some observers have recalled how the church building collapsed, stressing that they suspected foul play in that, since the building collapsed symmetrically, it suggested an induced or controlled demolition. One of them, Mr. Paul Iguniwei, a weapons expert from Kaduna, in a testimony he gave, said the building must have been brought down through the use of an infrasonic weapon. Iguniwei said, “Infrasonic weapons can damage a building by attacking and weakening its basic components like the cement and iron rods.
It is improbable that the collapse started from the ground because the building did not tilt to swoop to suggest the collapse started from the top.” He added that infrasonic weapons, being highly classified, could only be owned by the state, terrorists and scientists. He said he became interested in the saga in order to be able to write a research paper that would enhance his academic work in that area.
In a related development, a British- Nigerian property developer, Mr. Robert Joseph Badagry, who visited The Synagogue Church Of All Nations on September 12, 2014,
the very day the building belonging to the church collapsed, told the coroner inquiring into the cause of the death of over 116 persons involved in the unfortunate incident that, as at the time he got to the scene of the collapsed building on Saturday, September 13, 2014, most of the statutory responders were uncoordinated and preferred to talk to the
media while persons were trapped under the rubbles of the collapsed building.
Meanwhile, T.B. Joshua has been receiving solidarity from various interest groups across the country. Student groups, civil society organisations, ethnic nationalities and human rights group have been expressing solidarity with the man they call “our father and the hope of the hopeless.”
Already, two prominent Nigerian groups have released press statements supporting the man of God and calling on the Federal Government to get to the roots cause of the collapsed building. The Nigerian Human Rights Community, a coalition of 135 civil right groups had stated that the failure of the government to release the report on investigations suggests a string of coverups, which strengthens the growing public perception that the collapse of the building was as a result of a bomb attack by yet-to-be identified people.
In the same vein, the Oodua Nationalist Coalition said the attack on the church might be a product of international and local conspiracy. According to ONAC, for two decades, Pastor T.B Joshua has dedicated his life to the service of mankind.
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