Synagogue building collapse: NEMA, LASEMA I'll equipped to manage disaster situations, witness tells coroner

(NIGERIA) The National Executive Co-ordinator of Life Savers Foundation (LSF), Mrs Fola Shoetan, today told Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe of a Lagos State Coroners Court sitting in Ikeja, that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) are not well equipped to manage disaster situations in the country.

She therefore called on the President Goodluck Jonathan led Federal Government (FG) and the Lagos State government, to ensure that adequate equipments are provided for the agencies in order to effectively contain emergency situations whenever the need arises.

Testifying before the court investigating into the cause of the collapsed guest house belonging to the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Mrs Shoetan advised that more Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) should come on board in the aspect of rescue operations.

The witness also maintained that youths from SCOAN played a major role in the rescue operations, adding that statutorily, responders are not supposed to move away from a disaster site.

According to Shoetan, "I don't know when NEMA officials left the scene on the first day. But LASEMA officials left at 10:30pm on the second day. As at the time LASEMA officials left on the second day, persons were still trapped on the collapsed site.

"The LASEMA General Manager (GM), Dr Femi Osanyintola did not co-operate very well with other responders and I kept telling him that.

"Even though he is very hard working and always      around at the collapsed site, what he does most of the time he is around is to hold meetings with his team from the state.
 
"The police I can confirm was present all through the period of the rescue operation and no security agent ever stopped us from working and to the best of my knowledge nobody was assaulted."

Also in his testimony before the court, SCOAN's Chief Security Officer (CSO), Sunday Okogie confirmed that both NEMA and LASEMA officials were not prevented from rescuing people trapped under the collapsed guest house.

The CSO who submitted the unedited Close Circuit Television (CCTV) footages of the incident from September 12 to September 16, 2014 to the court, argued that the recordings contradicted their claims.

Okogie pointed out that both agencies arrived at the church about an hour after the building collapsed and gained access to the scene in less than a minute.

According to the CSO, "My Lord, on the first day of the incident, as you can see, nobody prevented them from entering into the compound. But as you can see from the video, LASEMA came with only one bus and no heavy duty equipment as they claimed before this court.

"The same thing with NEMA. They came ill-equipped for the job of digging out those who were trapped under the rubbles."

Okogie further told the court that NEMA and LASEMA officials left the church at about 05:45 pm, when several persons were still trapped.

The CSO said, "For the first three days, that was how they were operating. They will resume at about 8:00 am and leave in the evening like they were on duty in the office."

Further hearing has been adjourned till January 6, 2015.