Oyenuga made the statement in the trial of two engineers arraigned on 111- count charge of gross negligence and criminal manslaughter in the deaths of 116 people, including 85 South Africans, in the building, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
“There was no structural engineer for Synagogue to the best of our knowledge. During the compilation of the report into the cause of the collapsed building, no structural engineer for the church came forward.
“The court needs to educate the public that every structure needs a structural engineer.
“A civil engineer is not necessarily a structural engineer unless registered by the Council of Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN),” he said.
The engineer, who was led in evidence by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mrs. Idowu Alakija, told the court how investigations into the collapsed building were carried out by his committee.
“I was a member of the committee that generated a report on the Synagogue building collapse. COREN put up an advert that all engineers involved in the construction of the collapsed building should report to the COREN office at Ikoyi but no one showed up.
“I and other members of the committee went to the site of the building collapse to conduct some analysis and design tests.
“We requested drawings from the church and one Mr. G.A. Akinfenwa came to our office to drop two documents, a structural drawing and a calculation and drawing for beam seven which was a major beam,” Oyenuga stated.
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