The Managing Director of Lekki Gardens Estate Limited, Mr Nyong Robert, was on Wednesday docked before an Igbosere High Court for manslaughter for the death of five persons when a building collapsed in the Lekki area of Lagos.
Nyong is standing trial alongside nine others on a six-count charge bordering on failure to obtain building permit and approval and involuntary manslaughter.
Other defendants in the suit are: Odofin Henry Taiwo, the engineer that supervised the collapsed structures, Omolabake Mortune, and Omotilewa Oluwatosin Joseph.
The limited liability companies are: Lekki Gardens Estate Limited, Get Too Rich Investment Limited a.k.a. GT Rich Investment Limited, and HT Insight Solution Limited, which were represented by Nyong Robert and Odofin Taiwo, respectively.
The second, sixth and tenth defendants: Sola Olumofe, Marius Agwu and Artech Insigna Limited were however not present in court.
The plea of the other defendants could not be taken as the second defendant informed the court about a preliminary objection challenging the court’s jurisdiction to try him.
However, responding to the objection, the Lagos State, Attorney General, Mr Kazeem Adeniji, who is also the Commissioner for Justice, told the court that the business is the arraignment of the defendants, and that it is after they have submitted themselves to the court that they can then raise objection to their trial.
The AGF pointed out that Section 235 of ACJL states clearly that if a defendant refuses to appear before the court to take his plea, and does not give sufficient reason as to the cause of his absence, the ACJL empowers the trial judge to issue a bench warrant against the defendant.
Adeniji therefore urged the court to issue bench warrant against the second, sixth and tenth defendants who were not in court.
After the hearing of the second defendant’s application, Counsel to Nyong, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) applied to court to allow his client continue to enjoy the earlier bail granted him by a Chief Magistrate’s Court, where he was earlier charged to for the same allegation.
In the same vein, lawyers representing other defendants aligned themselves with Olanipekun’s submissions.
After listening to counsel from both sides, Justice P. Nwaka, adjourned the matter till June 1, for ruling on the application to dispense with the appearance of the second defendant. While ordered that the other defendants continue to enjoy the bail earlier granted them by the court and police.
According to the charge marked LD/3808c/2017, the defendants failed to obtain building approval which is contrary to section 75(1) of the Urban and Regional Planning And Development Law, CH. U2, Vol. 10 of Lagos State, 2015.
The sad incident occurred sometime in March 2016, at house H15, Horizon 1 Extension, Ikate Elegunshi, when the six-storey building under construction collapsed leading to the deaths of: Williams Akpati, Kazeem Ilesanmi, Raphael Ezeh, Saminu Umar and Sunday Ezeh.