Synagogue building collapse: infrasonic radiation may be cause of collapse, witness tells court

(NIGERIA) A Lagos State Coroner Court sitting in Ikeja, presided over by Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe was today informed by a 37-year-old graduate of Chemistry from the University of Maiduguri, Biedomo Iguniewei, that the collapsed guest house belonging to the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), may have been felled with a  high energy infrasonic radiation.

The witness who claimed to be an independent consultant with specific interest in explosives and weapon research, insisted that he was in the position to reach such a conclusion on the basis of his work experience with the Defence Industry Corporation of Nigeria, where he said he had worked for six years.

Iguniewei who revealed that he is currently a post-graduate student of Explosives and Material Science with the Nigerian Defence Academy, revealed that consequent upon his background and research experience in explosives and military weapons, he took personal interest in the collapsed guest house and had consequently visited the church with a view to carrying out a research and publishing a paper.

According to the witness, "I was worried when I heard them talking of controlled demolition. And from the video that I watched, I started asking myself: What could have led to the building crumbling in near vertical fall?"

Iguniewei posited that after eliminating all the other possible options, he came to the conclusion that the building could have possibly been fired upon with an infrasonic radiation.

He explained that an infrasound is a type of sound measuring bellow 20Hz, which is below what the normal human ear could detect.

The witness added that, "The striking thing about infrasound is that you cannot see it but it causes remarkable vibrations when used as a weapon.

"Those of us who work with the security know that weapons are produced and they are always looking for where to test the weapons.

"I am of the opinion that what happened that day, especially with the strange plane-like objects seen in the video, was that an infrasonic radiation was fired upon the building and if you observe, you will discover that it took about 30 minutes for the building to come down."

Iguniewei maintained that the building would be susceptible to being destroyed with infrasonic radiation since its construction did not envisage that it could be a target of such an attack.

The witness added, "It is important for this court to be aware of this option but why it could have  been used here is another matter entirely.

"But since I have been pondering on why a building would collapse the way this one did, this is the most plausible explanation for me."

Iguniewei maintained that it had become important to consider the option of infrasonic radiation especially with the repeated movement of the aircraft said to have passed over the collapsed building.

According to him, "That object flew close to the building, and that is all that is needed for the infrasonic radiation to reach the building. As far as I am concerned, the repeated overpassage of the plane-like object is to ensure that the building received enough dose of the radiation sufficient to bring it down.

"Engineers generally believe that a structure would fail due to bad foundation and materials but if you go there now the foundation pillars are still very intact. My position is that the building weakened from the top."