BEVERLY HILLS, May 03, (THEWILL) – Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja has granted bail of N10 million each to Akinbela Fatiregun and Oladele Ogundeji, the engineers who constructed the collapsed multi-storey guest house of the Synagogue Church of All Nations.
They had been remanded at Kirikiri Maximum Prisons since April 19, after they had entered a plea of ‘not guilty’ to over 100 charges of involuntary manslaughter and gross negligence; alongside their companies – Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Limited.
Ruling on the bail applications filed through their lawyers, Mrs. Titi Akinlawon (SAN) and Olalekan Ojo respectively, Justice Akapo, said the defendants must also produce two sureties in like sum adding that one of the sureties must be a civil servant on grade level 14 in the Lagos State Civil Service.
“The bail application hereby succeeds and here are the bail conditions,” he ruled.
“The defendants are hereby granted N10million bail each with two sureties in like sum.”
“The first surety shall be a civil servant on grade level 14 in the Lagos State Civil Service.
“The second surety shall be a house owner with property located in Lagos and also provide utility bills and evidence of tax payment.
“The defendants must deposit their international passports with the chief registrar of the high court of Lagos and the defendants shall be verified by the Chief Registrar.”
The case was adjourned to May 19, May 20 and June 1, June 2 and June 3 for hearing.
The building which collapsed on September 12, 2014 killed no fewer than 116 persons, 85 of whom were South Africans, and left many others injured.
The coroner’s inquest by the Lagos state government had ruled on July 8, 2015, that the building collapse was caused by structural failure due to a combination of designs and detailing errors and recommended the trial of two engineers involved in the construction of the building should for criminal negligence.
Story by David Oputah
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