UPDATE: Confusion and high death toll at site of T.B Joshua’s church building collapse

Death toll in yesterday’s collapse of the six-story building belonging to Prophet T.B Joshua’s Synagogue Church of All Nations, Ikotun, Lagos, may have risen to 50 but the actual casualty figure have not been given due to conflicting reports and confusion at the disaster site. A 10-year-old child is however among the dead. Many were rescued including some foreigners as the building was a guesthouse for the church’s foreign guests.

Photo credit: PUNCH

While officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, said 15 bodies and 20 survivors were recovered from the debris, eyewitnesses believe up to 50 people may have died
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An eyewitness who spoke to PUNCH insisted that up to 50 persons died in the incident, as he saw almost 10 ambulances loaded with bodies going to and fro, taking victims to nearby hospitals.

He said:“I’m very sure that nothing less than 50 people were killed in the incident as ambulances loaded with bodies were going to and fro. The collapse was massive and the casualty figure was high.”


The building was under some form of reconstruction about three more floors were being added to what appeared to be originally two floors. Most of the victims were therefore construction workers.

The Public Relations Officer, National Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye confirmed that the building was under construction and said the building collapse might have been caused by the addition of three more storey to the structure.


He said, “The building was under construction; it was initially a two-storey building but they were adding three floors to it and I think that was what led to the collapse. I think it was the construction that caused the problem.”

More confusion greeted the incident as hostile church members bared journalists from covering the incident. They also hampered rescue operations, attacking officials of the emergency services who were there to rescue victims.

Farinloye, who also confirmed it saying, “The church members have been very aggressive and hostile to us; they attacked us and we had to withdraw our services. I was attacked, the officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency and the General Manager of LASEMA were also attacked. We were not hurt and our equipment was not damaged. This was, however, because we quickly left when they attacked us. We are still waiting to settle before we resume our job.”

In another development, PUNCH reports that “young men suspected to be members of the church, mobbed and assaulted a photojournalist working for NTA, smashing his camera. They also molested other reporters and individuals who tried to take pictures of the scene”

Meanwhile,  an official communication from The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations concerning the incident reads: “A building, not the church auditorium as was reported. The few people that were there are being rescued. What you wish to others, God wishes to you. Nothing makes us love a person as much as praying for him. The more I love you, the more I will pray for you.”