By Abdulwahab Abdulah & Jane Echewedo

lagos—For the umpteenth time, defence team in the ongoing trial of Trustees of the Synagogue Church of all Nations (SCOAN) and two engineers involved in the construction of the  collapsed six-storey guest house yesterday frustrated the proceeding by objecting to the presentation of the prosecution’s witness.

The expectation before the court presided by Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo was for the state to present their first witness for the commencement of the case which has been pending since last year.

However, the table shifted again when the leading defence counsel in the case, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, objected that the witness cannot testify until they (defence) finished studying the additional documents newly filed by the state in line with the court’s ruling.

The  collapsed six-storey church guest house had left over 116 dead , majority of who were South African citizens when the incident happened on September 12, 2014. The state had filed 111-count charge against the defendants which borders on criminal negligence, manslaughter and failure to obtain building permit.

Lead defence counsel, Fagbemi (SAN) had objected to the prosecution’s witness giving evidence last week, stating that his statement was not forwarded to the defence team as stipulated by law.

This led Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo to have ordered the prosecution led by Mrs. Idowu Alakija, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to furnish the defence with the statement of the prosecution witness, Adebayo Musiliu Olayinka who was not allowed to testify.

Fagbemi had argued that in criminal proceeding, the proper practice is for the prosecuting team to serve the defence with list of witness and and their statement, adding that among the 8 witnesses listed by the state prosecuting counsel, one three had the witness statement front load and served on the defence team.

At yesterday’s proceedings, Mrs. Alakija informed the court that the state has filed an additional proof of evidence, which was served on the defence team Tuesday morning. The DPP also informed the court that the prosecution witnesses, Adebayo Musiliu Olayinka was in court and was ready to testify.

However, the defence team led by prince Fagbemi (SAN) confirmed that the additional proof of evidence has been served on them but they would need time to study the documents. Fagbemi again objected that the witness cannot testify until they (defence) finished studying the additional documents and urged the court to give them time to study it to enable them cross examine the witness well. For this reason, the judge adjourned the trial again till June 3, 2016.