The death toll from the collapse of a multi-storey edifice under construction at the Synagogue Church of all Nations headquarters in the Ikotun district of Lagos state on Friday keeps rising (63 as at Tuesday evening, with hundreds more, injured).

While rescue workers of the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) scramble to make the most of a needlessly complicated rescue process and the Lagos state housing officials engage in a back and forth bickering with Prophet TB Joshua, founder of the SCOAN over proper building permits, it remains clear now that more lives would have been saved had the members of the megachurch approved of early rescue efforts.

According to eyewitness accounts, from the moment the two storey building – used as a guest house, to accommodate the crowds of people that throng the premises of TB Joshua’s megachurch, seeking one form of healing or the other for their afflictions – crumbled like a pack of cards, immediate rescue efforts by well-meaning Nigerians were discouraged by members of the church who quickly formed a foreboding cordon, and made use of violent tactics to prevent strangers from approaching the site. Not only that, journalists who were first to arrive at the scene found themselves at the mercy of the church faithful as they were rough handled, equipment seized, with some, including our own Dayo Ademuwagun, brutalized before they were turned away. The site soon became a free for all as general lawlessness and bad behaviour became the dominant atmosphere. It took the intervention of governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Fashola, who visited the premises on Sunday, to appeal to the leadership of the church to allow properly trained rescue officials take charge of the scene.

While we commiserate with the church and victims of this tragedy, we must remain steadfast and call for a proper investigation to determine the causes of the building collapse. The SCOAN PR drive has swung into action promptly, circulating videos of a hovercraft circling the building moments before the collapse and Mr. Joshua has been quoted as citing chemical warfare as the cause of the collapse, labelling the victims as martyrs in an attempt at consoling his devoted legions.circulating videos of a hovercraft circling the building moments before the collapse and Mr. Joshua has been quoted as citing chemical warfare as the cause of the collapse, labelling the victims as martyrs in an attempt at consoling his devoted legions.

But it may yet be a matter of careless human error. While not ruling out the terrorist plot or even the spiritual angle like many would be quick to embrace at times like this, it is important that the Lagos state government open a proper independent investigation as to what could have caused the tragedy. The tough questions need to be asked. Did the church obtain proper permits or approval before attempting to raise a 2 storey building to 5? Were proper building codes violated? What does the track record of the engineering team overseeing the construction look like? How culpable was the Lagos state ministry of physical planning?

Mr. Joshua wields a lot of influence in many circles but it would be terribly remiss of him to stand in the way of the law as the Lagos state officials swoop in to do their duty. Nothing less of a full-scale investigation, with proper punitive measures assigned to any party found wanting, would begin to honour the memory of the lives lost and prevent future occurrences. It would also be justifiable to look deeply into terrorist claims as espoused by Joshua, because of the national security implications.

YEditor