Lagos - 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.
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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."
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