Lagos - Nigeria said on Friday that it will begin an inquest on October 13 into the cause of a church building collapse in Lagos that killed 115 people, including 84 South Africans.
Lagos state justice commissioner Ade Ipaye said the coroner would seek to establish “the cause and manner” of the September 12 disaster at a guesthouse within the compound of the pastor TB Joshua.
Since the collapse, concerns have mounted about the scope of an inquiry, including whether Nigeria's well-documented culture of impunity for the rich and powerful would undermine a thorough investigation.
Joshua, who has thousands of followers in Nigeria and across the world, counts African heads of state among his flock.
The justice commissioner said the inquest will begin with an open invitation to appear at Lagos High Court for anyone with relevant information about the tragedy.
Some 350 South Africans were thought to be visiting the church at the time of the tragedy.
Post mortems on all 116 people killed in the collapse have been completed.
This brought closer the process of bringing the remains of the 80 South Africans home, the inter-ministerial task team on the Nigerian tragedy's spokeswoman Phumla Williams said.
“We are encouraged with the completion of post mortems, which bring us closer to finalising the process of bringing them home.”
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