TB Joshua Did Not Have Approval For Collapsed Building, Says SCOAN Consultant

A town planner who worked for
influential Nigeria preacher TB
Joshua told an inquest Thursday
that the building which collapsed
at Joshua’s church, killing 116 people, did
not have planning approval.
Bisi Adedire, who served as a consultant
for Joshua, said that lack of approval did
not mean the building was unsound but
told the coroner that he warned church
officials they were ignoring regulations

“I told the church they have contravened
the law in a way by building without
approval but they said they could
regularise it,” he told the inquest into the
causes of the deadly accident.
Joshua, a self-proclaimed prophet, has
claimed the collapse in September may
have been sabotage and has on three
occasions ignored summonses to testify.
His followers include influential politicians
and business people in Africa and around
the world and his loyalists have suggested
the collapse is part of a conspiracy to
undermine him.
Adedire stressed that having planning
approval does not guarantee the quality
of a building and argued the church’s
failure to follow protocol was an
administrative issue which likely had
nothing to do with the collapse.
Lagos officials have said others buildings
at Joshua’s Synagogue Church of All
Nations compound were shoddily built.
Rafiq Arogunjo, of the Nigerian Airspace
Management Agency (NAMA), again
dismissed a theory advanced by Joshua
and his supporters about aerial sabotage.
Church loyalists have claimed that a
Nigerian Air Force C-130 aircraft, which
had been flying nearby, was responsible
for the collapse.
“The aircraft was no longer in flight when
the building collapsed,” Arogunjo said.
“I don’t see any nexus between the aircraft
and the collapse. I think the investigators
should look into the structural integrity of
the building.”