Prophet T.B. Joshua is running late in appearing at the coroner inquest, set up to probe the 12 September collapse of the guesthouse at the Synagogue Church of All Nations, in Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos.
The inquest headed by Oyetade Komolafe was expected to begin proceedings by 9:00 a.m in Ikeja, capital of Lagos State, with Joshua as the star witness. But as at 10:25 a.m, he was yet to appear.
The entire high court venue of the inquest, was overfilled, said our reporters.
Last week, the coroner threatened to arrest Joshua if he failed to testify on the collapsed building, caused the death of 116 people, most of them South Africans.
Komolafe rejected arguments from Joshua’s lawyers that the televangelist should not be summoned because he did not directly witness the September 12 tragedy.
Joshua, known to members of his church as “The Prophet” or “The Man of God”, has indicated that sabotage was to blame and linked the collapse to a low-flying aircraft seen in the area at the time.
“The court has the power to summon whoever it deems necessary to assist it,” Komolafe told the hearing in the city.
“The counsel should advise The Prophet to come. The church is not on trial. It’s not a matter of ego. Nobody is above the law. The court will be fair to all.
“If he is an institution with immunity, the court will not even go there. If the man refuses to come, he can be arrested… He has to appear. We summoned The Prophet. We summoned the contractors.”
