TRAGEDY: Over 50 dead, several trapped as Synagogue building collapse


Scores of persons are reported dead and many others trapped following the collapse of a building in the premises of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Ejigbo in Lagos.

The incident which occured at about 2pm claimed the lives of worshippers in the Church who were staying in the building.

About 50 bodies have been recovered from the scene of the collapse building in the premises of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Ikotun in Lagos.

Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority, Friday Adeboayo confirmed the recovery of the dead bodies adding that rescue operations are on to evacuate injured persons.

The building said to be guest house for foreign visitors reportedly collapsed Friday morning.

NigerianEye gathered from a reliable source that no fewer than 70 guests were said to be in the building when the building came down.

An eyewitness, who insisted that up to 50 persons died in the incident, said he saw almost 10 ambulances loaded with bodies going to and fro, taking victims to nearby hospitals.

He said, “I’m very sure that nothing less than 50 people were killed in the incident as ambulances loaded with bodies were going to and fro. The collapse was massive and the casualty figure was high.”

The collapsed building was said to have served as a guest house for church members, particularly foreigners attending the church.

The site of the collapsed building
Our correspondent observed that only two floors were visible at the scene of the incident as the other three had sunk into the ground.

Farinloye, who confirmed that the building was under construction, said the building collapse might have been caused by the addition of three more storeys to the structure.

He said, “The building was under construction; it was initially a two-storey building but they were adding three floors to it and I think that was what led to the collapse. I think it was the construction that caused the problem.”

Journalists were barred from covering the incident by church members, who were trying to play down the incident. They also hampered rescue efforts as they attacked officials of the emergency services who were there to rescue victims.

Farinloye, who also confirmed this, said, “The church members have been very aggressive and hostile to us; they attacked us and we had to withdraw our services. I was attacked, the officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency and the General Manager of LASEMA were also attacked. We were not hurt and our equipment was not damaged. This was, however, because we quickly left when they attacked us. We are still waiting to settle before we resume our job.”

However, about an hour after, Oke-Osanyintola, who also confirmed the hostilities, said the emergency officials had been able to calm the aggressors down and that normal rescue services had resumed.

Consequently, the incident attracted many onlookers to the scene and there was heavy vehicular traffic in and around Ikotun area, where the church is located.

In the evening, the pandemonium in the area was compounded by security officials who besieged the entrance of the church, shooting into the air to disperse the crowd.

The security officers prevented onlookers from gaining entrance into the church, but their presence and shootings led to a stampede.

In the confusion, many of the onlookers running helter-skelter, rushed into moving vehicles, while trying to avoid being hit by stray bullets.

Beside security operatives, young men suspected to be members of the church, also barricaded the entrance of the church. They also prevented motorists from gaining access to the premises.

However, ambulances, police vehicles and forklifts were allowed to gain entrance.

No fewer than 20 ambulances had entered the site, coming out with injured victims as of 7pm.

At 7.30pm, a trailer with registration number MUS 891XK, hauling a bulldozer and belonging to the Lagos State Works Corporation, entered the premises, ostensibly to help in the rescue exercise.

According to an eye witness account, the impact of the collapsed building shook his house.

A resident of Olusesi Street adjacent to the church, who identified himself as Ade, told one of our correspondents that he never suspected it was a collapsed building.

“It was around 1pm. I was in my sitting room and my house just vibrated. I didn’t know what happened. I was scared, but few minutes later, I just heard that a building had collapsed. I was shocked,” he said.

A recharge card seller, who claimed she saw when the building collapsed, said she counted nothing less than 20 dead people.

“It was so gory. Most of them were construction workers. I saw so many bodies being evacuated. I am sure not less than 20 people have died so far,” she claimed.

Another resident said he wasn’t surprised that such a building collapsed especially as high rise buildings keep springing up in the area intermittently.

The resident, who didn’t want his name in print said, “I know the building so well. I wasn’t surprised it collapsed as it was already bent. Landlords became greedy and started building more storeys on top of the already completed ones.”

Meanwhile, suspected members of the church who spoke to one of our correspondents claimed nothing major happened. It was obvious they wanted to protect their church.

One of them said, “It was just a small thing. I attend this church. Nobody died. You know Ikotun has a huge population, that is why you see many people here.”

One of our correspondents learnt that the church was planning to hold a special programme on Saturday (today) and that many members, including foreigners were meant to attend the event. It was also observed that many visiting members of the church, who arrived later in the evening, met the confusion.

Journalists spoke to one of them who was reluctant to talk.

“I don’t know what to do. I am confused. I am coming from Gabon. Nobody has really told me what is happening,” he said.

In a related development, young men suspected to be members of the church, mobbed and assaulted a photojournalist working for NTA, smashing his camera. They also molested other reporters and individuals who tried to take pictures of the scene.

A NigerianEye source was able to later gain access to the scene of the incident at about 9pm, he confirmed that only two of the building floors were visible as the remaining had been buried.

Rescue operations were still ongoing as of the time of filing this report and an official of the church whose name was not made available to our correspondent, said a statement would be issued by the leadership of the church on Saturday (today).

At about 9.40pm when our correspondents visited Igando General Hospital, there were six survivors of the incident on beds in a ward while nine others were under a canopy outside, presumably due to inadequate bed space. A nurse was observed attending to the victims outside with some of their relatives present.

However, some members of the church who were at the hospital, told the nurse and the victims not to entertain any questions from our correspondents.

The nurse said she was not authorised to speak on the issue but asked our correspondents to return on Monday, next week when her superiors would be around for information.

The hospital’s Medical Director, Deputy Medical Director and Administrative officer were not at the facility at that time and efforts to reach them on their mobile phones were also not successful as their numbers were switched off.

Meanwhile, This is an official communication from The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations concerning a news story currently being reported by the media regarding an incident that happened today:

“A building, not the church auditorium as was reported. The few people that were there are being rescued. What you wish to others, God wishes to you. Nothing makes us love a person as much as praying for him. The more I love you, the more I will pray for you.”
( Hide )
  1. So the man can not see this coming.i really pity my people whi worship all the fske pastor

    ReplyDelete
  2. i think tb didn't see this coming,
    and he been predicting for the pope

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a pity! T.B joshua did not see the danger coming.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nigeria open una eye's , So who can give me the reason why this Man did not see in vision 50 people are about die in his church or even see the church will collapse. ....Guy make una follow me reason if you have brain.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Chai Chai God is watching oooooo!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How many him wan see at a time? A beg make una no dey criticise am like that .

      Delete
    2. So you mean God can't see all at ones Man?...

      Delete
  6. No offence to the man of God, but am surprised he didn't for see this danger on his own house. May God grant the souls of d departed eternal rest

    ReplyDelete
  7. rituals to the highest order

    ReplyDelete
  8. SINCERELY, I DO NOT WISH TO MAKE A LIGHT OF THIS DEVELOPMEMT BUT NOT WITHSTANDING, I LOOK FORWARD TO SEE NIGERIANEYE HEADLINE TOMORROW READS: PROPHET TB JOSHUA PROPHESIED THE COLLAPSE OF THE BUILDING, WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We give you all the glory our subprime
      Thank you for everything,,
      You said we should give you glory,, thank you lord, save the souls that are injured lord,, let the souls of the dead once be in pace in your presents holy one,, father thank you

      Delete
  9. God! May u take perfect control of d situation.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Our ways are not God ways. He is only a prophet & not God. He works as d spirit leads. He is not meant to c everytin

    ReplyDelete
  11. We still say thank you Lord.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Trust! Deceivers wil stil hv somtin 2say. TB don prophecised it b4. If not deceivers why refuse to entertain question dat may be of hep to them nd d public.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Trust! Deceivers wil stil hv somtin 2say. TB don prophecised it b4. If not deceivers why refuse to entertain question dat may be of hep to them nd d public.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I said it! This fake pastor and prophet of doom must experience his own doom. Let's wait for the lies that will follow. Let's wait for the video of his prophecy on this.

    ReplyDelete
  15. about 3 people actually died not 50 as reported.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One or two nah human being, so when 20,000 die u will no person don die?

      Delete
  16. Plz my follow Nigerians make una live this man of god along? If people can listing to his preaching last week u will no that he said something about this coming he is a real man of god?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Make una live this man along a beg he is a man of God

    ReplyDelete
  18. TB Joshua is not alone among the Prophesy Based Pastors who are daily deceiving poor and gullible Nigerians who seek Utopian solutions to their worldly problems, There are many "over the counter" self acclaim prophets using psychological prowess and probability permutations to trick people and assume prophetic powers while feeding big and smiling to the bank in the process.

    Seeking eternity has been replaced with prosperity for these people and they shall be exposed sooner that later.

    ReplyDelete
  19. plss nigeria eye,confirm bfore postn.its 3 ppl dat are reported dead not 50

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One or two nah human being, so when 20,000 die u will no person don die?

      Delete
  20. even if nah one die, nah still human being die, only God knows his true worhippers

    ReplyDelete
  21. anonimous 11:22 u are a thoughtful analyst. psychology and permutation are clearly the order of d day in our churches.

    ReplyDelete
  22. He still remain a servant of God the most high.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I weep for those who lost their loved ones and l pray for those who died to be at peace. It is God that reveals and if God decided not to reveal this to the man of God, we cannot blame him. Never the less buildings in that area should be checked and their plans review.

    ReplyDelete
  24. we would all die some days but we dont know when, where or how we will die and that is why we can not condenm or blame other people for the death of others, it is God alone that can tell what had happened. Let join us hands in praying for the death and the injuired including the the man of God, Prophet TB Joshua. From Odeh Joseph

    ReplyDelete

Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)

Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com

© Copyright © 2023 NigerianEye.com | Your Online Nigerian Newspaper | All Rights Reserved