Synagogue's Building Collapsed Because Of Faulty Foundation, Engineer Tells Coroner

Synagogue's Building Collapsed Because Of Faulty Foundation, Engineer Tells Coroner 

A state witness, Saheed Ariyori on Wednesday told the Coroner conducting an inquest in the the collapsed of a building belonging to the Synagogue Church of All Nations that the incident was as a result of a faulty foundation.

Ariyori, who is a structural engineer and a consultant to the Lagos State Material Testing Agency, also told the Coroner,  Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe that based on all the tests and the calculations, conducted it was discovered that from inception, the building failed because the base that was supposed to take the load was grossly inadequate.

The inquest was set up by the Lagos State Government to unravel the cause of the collapse of the six-storey guest house belonging to the church, which left 116 persons dead.

Ayiroyi, who was being led in evidence by the counsel to the Lagos State Government, Akingbolahan Adeniran, explained that he was part of the team of structural and geo-technical engineers that carried out a Structural Integrity Test on the building after it collapsed.

According to the witness, the team took samples of materials used in the building to the laboratory for test and also took measurements of the foundation bases.

He also pointed out that since the church did not furnish them with the building's designs, the team had to simulate the building to arrive at their conclusions.

Ariyori stated: "The minimum base that will be required should have been 4.5 metres by 4.5 metres but what we had there was 2.2 metres by 2.2 metres.

"It was a wrong choice of foundation base. The foundation should have been continuous base and not a pad as was used in the construction."

While demonstrating the defect before the court after he was provided with a copy of the structural design, Ariyori claimed that the load imposed on the foundation of the building was far more than the foundation can bear, hence the collapse.

After the witness concluded his testimony, counsel to Synagogue, Olalekan Ojo, pleaded with the coroner to adjourn cross-examination till a later date to enable him consult with the church's engineers.

Ojo claimed that there were some discrepancies in the building design which needed to be examined before the witness could be cross-examined.

The lawyer also said that the church's consultant engineer, Mr Oladele Ogundeji, while testifying before the court had also disagreed with Ayiroyi's claim that a raft foundation should have been erected for the structure.

Based on the development, the Coroner adjourned proceedings till March 5 for site visitation by parties while Ariyori's cross-examination was fixed for March 6.