Lagos - A Nigerian man on Friday claimed that
he spent over 24 hours under the rubble of a
Lagos church building, blaming "Satan" rather
than structural failure for the collapse that killed
at least 84 people.

Taiwo Taiwo was among 131 people pulled from the remains of the guesthouse for foreign
followers of preacher TB Joshua's Synagogue
Church of All Nations (SCOAN), which collapsed
on September 12.

A week on, rescue workers were winding down
search operations, after complaining that hostile
members of the evangelical church prevented
them from accessing the building in the first three
days.
Joshua, whose followers call him "The Prophet"
or "The Man of God", has rejected claims of lack
of cooperation and linked the collapse to a low-
flying plane seen in the area beforehand.

Taiwo told reporters in a briefing organised by the
church that he was helping Nigerian and South
African visitors at the guesthouse, which could
accommodate up to 350 people in its dining hall.
"Most of them were actually in the church having
a lecture from the Wise Man (Joshua). People
were coming back to have their lunch," said the
28-year-old.
"I just noticed a very sharp sound and I looked up
and I saw the wall just coming off... like
something you see in the movies. It didn't look
real.
"Consciously, the (Holy) Spirit said to me, 'This is
not normal'. Next thing it was all dark. People
were screaming, shouting. I just kept calm."
Taiwo, who appeared unscathed apart from a
bandaged finger, said the accident happened at
about 1:10 pm (1210 GMT) and he was only
pulled free at 5:05 pm the following day.
Bad things come 'from Satan'
Joshua has broadcast security camera footage on
his emmanuel.tv network, which he said showed
a "strange aircraft" flying low over the building
four times between 11:30 am and 11:54 am.
The building is then seen to collapse at 12:44 pm,
according to the camera's time-codes.
Joshua, a self-styled miracle worker and faith
healer who counts heads of state among his
flock, called the incident "an attack on the
Synagogue Church of All Nations and in particular
Prophet TB Joshua".
The Lagos state government has ordered an
investigation and indicated that the addition of
extra floors onto the building without
strengthening the foundations caused the fatal
collapse.
Survivors of the tragedy have so far not spoken
publicly about their ordeal in Lagos, although
South Africans who returned home have
recounted their lucky escape from the rubble.
South Africa's high commissioner to Nigeria, Lulu
Mnguni, told The Times newspaper that one
woman pulled out a steel bar that had pierced her
chest and missed her vital organs and spine.
There was no independent corroboration of
Taiwo's account. Nigeria's National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA) has said survivors
had typically suffered broken bones and injuries
from being crushed.
Taiwo, who said he was a recent graduate of the
University of West London, also maintained that
sabotage was to blame.
"I believe it was an attack. Obviously every thing
that is not good comes from Satan," he said.
"The idea that people are thinking that it is a
collapse, it's not possible, I'm very sure of that
because the structure was solid."
- AFP
S

Brainwashed mofo! Lucky he survived!