Video of Synagogue Church collapse shown in court

The trial of the two engineers charged with killing 116 persons in the collapsed seven-storey guest house of Synagogue Church of All Nations took a new turn on Tuesday when the footage of the disaster was showed in court.
The engineers are Akinbela Fatiregun and Oladele Ogundeji.
The video was shown in the crowded courtroom on the order Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo after admitting it as evidence in a short ruling.
The footage showed an aircraft hovering above the seven-storey building moments before it collapsed and the frightened bystanders.
During the proceedings on June 27, the Defence, led by Chief E. L. Akpofure (SAN), had objected to the footage being admitted as evidence because it was “computer-generated, irrelevant and a copy of the original”.
Akpofure had also noted that a witness for the State, Olutoyin Ayinde, a former Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, had in his evidence said he could not identify the contents of the compact disc containing the footage until he was allowed to watch it.
However, at the resumed hearing on Tuesday, Justice Lawal-Akapo dismissed the objection of the Defence for lack of merit.
“I find no merit in the objections, they are overruled, the video clip and accompanying documents are admitted in evidence,” he ruled.
Lawal-Akapo said the prerogative of a court in admitting a document as evidence was its relevance.
He said: “For a document to be tendered in evidence the guiding principle is relevance and not custody; the questions to ask is whether the document is needed and admissible in law.
“Applying the above test, the document about to be tendered satisfies the above conditions and Section 54 of the Evidence Act.
“The argument of Mr. Olalekan Ojo that the document is a secondary evidence is grossly misplaced.”
During the cross-examination of Ayinde by Akpofure, the former Commissioner told the court that he visited the site of the collapsed building twice.
Ayinde said: “I visited the site twice on September 14 and September  21, 2014 and I cleared all unofficial rescuers from the site and left those rescuers recognised by the Federal Government and the Lagos State Government.
“On September 22, my office gave instructions to the investigative agencies to probe the foundation of the building.”
The engineers – Akinbela Fatiregun and Oladele Ogundeji – alongside their companies – Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Limited – and the trustees of the church are facing a 111-count charge bordering on gross negligence and criminal manslaughter.
The incident, which occurred on September 12, 2014, led to the death of 116 persons, 85 of who were South Africans.
The case has been adjourned to October 10, 11 and 12 for continuation of trial.