Goodluck Jonathan visits collapsed building, as Death Records Pause At 86

Lagos - President Goodluck Jonathan on
Saturday visited the collapsed guesthouse at a
mega-church in Lagos, promising to
investigate the cause of the tragedy as the
death toll hit 86, rescuers said on Saturday.
"The president came to the church this
morning to see things for himself. He met
with Prophet TB Joshua and expressed his
condolences to the bereaved families,"
Ibrahim Farinloye of the National Emergency
Management Agency told AFP.
He said Jonathan promised to investigate the
cause of the September 12 collapse of the
guesthouse at Synagogue Church of All
Nations (SCOAN) which left scores trapped in
the debris.

Farinloye said the death toll now stood at 86
as against the previous figure of 84 after the
various emergency teams involved in the
operation had reconciled their figures.
"You are aware that several rescue teams at
the state and federal levels were involved in
the operations. We sat together and
reconciled our figures which has now brought
the death toll to 86. But those rescued still
stands at 131," he said.
Farinloye could not say if the new death toll
included 84 South Africans who had been
confirmed dead in the incident by the
country's high commissioner to Nigeria Lulu
Mnguni.
It is believed that there were 349 South
Africans visiting the popular church in the
Ikotun district of the city at the time of the
collapse.

The church's leader Joshua, who has blamed
the incident on sabotage, is one of most well-
known Pentecostal preachers and is referred
to by followers across the world as "The
Prophet" or "The Man of God".
He claims to work miracles, including raising
people from the dead and healing the sick,
and foreseeing disasters.
The Lagos state government has accused the
church of adding extra floors to the existing
structure without approval.
It has ordered urgent structural integrity
tests on all buildings in the sprawling
compound, including the main church, which
Joshua says was designed by the Holy Spirit.



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