Engineers of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) owned by Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua have lost their bid to stop their trial by an Igbosere High Court, Lagos over the church’s collapsed building.

This was revealed in a statement released on Monday and signed by the Deputy Director, Public Affairs of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Mr. Kayode Oyekanmi.

The statement said the appellate court affirmed the decision of the Lagos State High Court delivered by Justice Lawal-Akapo on March 9, 2018 which dismissed the no case submission filed by the defendants.

In his ruling, Justice Lawal-Akapo had held that the state had established a prima facie case against the defendants/appellants to warrant them being called upon to put up a defence.

 Dissatisfied with the ruling of the lower court, the defendants, Messrs Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun who were charged alongside their companies, Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Limited approached the appellate court, urging them to upturn the ruling.

After considering the arguments of the appellants and the submission of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) led by Ms. Titi Shitta-Bey, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal for lacking in merit.