Thanduxolo Doro and Mpho Molebatsi,
two South Africans who both lost their sisters at the Synagogue building
collapse on September 12th have vowed to drag pastor T.B.Joshua to court for
what they describe as negligence on the part of the church for not allowing
rescue workers help save the victims after the collapse as well as withholding
information after the unfortunate incident.
The South Africans who were guests
on a BBC programme this week said they are calling on other family members to
come forward so that they can unanimously press charges against T.B. Joshua
“I understand that some families are afraid to take on
someone who purports to be God’s messenger and I don’t blame them but I will do
this. It is not that the building collapsed, rather what was done after
the collapse. We didn’t get any news from the church. When I contacted
them they wouldn’t tell me anything. We saw reports that emergency workers were
denied access initially, access that could have saved lives. The actions of the
church after the incident are very telling,” Doro, whose sister
Vathiswa Madikiza died said
Doro has since published an open
letter in a South African daily calling on more families to come forward so
they can all sue T.B. Joshua,
“I need to do this for her. Even if I stand alone, I am
determined to see that something is done” he said
In a related development, the Lagos
state government today announced the commencement of the DNA identification
test of the 115 dead bodies brought out from the collapsed building.
While announcing this, Commissioner
for Health, Dr Jide Idris called on families who lost loved ones to come
forward with DNA samples so that the bodies can be properly identified and
released to them for proper burial. He said loved ones of the dead victims are
to visit the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Lagos State University
Teaching Hospital(LASUTH) from today to submit samples that could aid the
forensic identification and DNA analysis of recovered bodies. He said only
children, parents and siblings of the deceased are eligible to submit samples.
The Lagos state government today
September 26th also constituted a coroner inquest that will investigate the
real reason the building collapsed. The Lagos state Attorney General and
Commissioner for Justice, Mr Ade Ipaye in a statement said Magistrate
O.A.Komolafe who headed the Dana Air crash case will be heading the coroner inquest.
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