Synagogoe building collapse: Death toll climbs to 40. "I was targeted by terrorists" - TB Joshua

Synagogoe building collapse: Death toll climbs to 40. "I was targeted by terrorists" - TB Joshua

Forty people have now died as a result of a building collapse at the TB Joshua-owned Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN).

"It's now 40 dead," Ibrahim Farinloye, southwest coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), told AFP by text message.

About 124 people were rescued alive from the rubble of the building, believed to be a guesthouse for foreign followers of TB Joshua's Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), in the Ikotun area of Lagos. Rescue operations were continuing on Sunday, Farinloye said.

The two storey building, located in the sprawling compound of the vast church complex, came down on Friday afternoon. It was undergoing construction work to add extra floors.

Still living in denial Temitope Balogun Joshua has alleged that he was a target of an attack by terrorists. Joshua and his followers have tried to divert attention from the real cause of the building collapse and initially tried to deny the building even collapsed. Following the collapse on Friday, emergency services and the media were initially attacked as they tried to get to the building.

Joshua immediately said on his Facebook page TB Joshua Ministries that reports that the church auditorium had collapsed and that there had been heavy casualties were not correct.

"The few people that were there are being rescued," he said on Friday.

On Sunday, Joshua was widely quoted as saying that a low-flying plane that had been repeatedly circling the building may have been responsible for the collapse.

Joshua, who said this while addressing the journalists in camera in the church premises yesterday evening, showed a clip taken from the church CCTV showing events that took place before and after the six-storey collapsed.

From the short video clip, a jet was observed to have hovered four times –11:30am, 11:43am, 11:45am and 11:54 am — before the building caved in.

After the fourth passage over the building, the structure collapsed at exactly 12:44am.

He said from the video clip, the building might have been collapsed as a result of chemical substances poured on it.

In his explanation after the video clip, Joshua said the building might have caved in as a result of a terrorist attack: “In a few weeks, the truth behind the collapsed building will be revealed. The last time the Boko Haram issue occurred, the press were against the church including the police but after some weeks, the truth behind the attack was revealed.”

Joshua explained why he kept quiet on the issue: “I do not want to put fear in the minds of Nigerians. We are still battling with the Ebola virus disease, and that was why I have decided to delay my comment till now.”

The clergyman urged the pressmen to analyse the video and come to their own conclusion as to what might have happened.

He argued that building of such solid foundation would not have collapsed in the manner that the six-storey building came down.