Metro

BBC documentary alleges wide-ranging abuses by late Nigerian Prophet TB Joshua

Published

11 months ago

January 9, 2024

A three-episode BBC documentary titled, “Disciples: The Cult of TB Joshua”, released on Monday, has uncovered alleged dark secrets of late Nigerian televangelist and founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua, popularly called TB Joshua.

In the documentary, which is the result of a two-year investigation, dozens of the former church members gave accounts of physical violence or torture carried out by Joshua and his cronies, including instances of child abuse and people being whipped and chained.

As part of the investigation, the BBC interviewed at least 30 former members and workers of the church.

The documentary revealed the clandestine lifestyle of the late Joshua, detailing stories of abuse, sexual harassment, rape, manipulation, and staged miracles which spanned over two decades.

Reported survivors of sexual exploitation narrated how they were manipulated and silenced even when they knew the relationship they had with him was abusive.

Many women narrated how he molested and raped them, with a few saying they tried to resist his assault at first but were threatened into submission.

According to one witness, Joshua told the women he was sexually assaulting them for their salvation.

A woman who gave her name as Abisola said she was in the church for 14 years and was raped throughout her stay.

She said when the women get pregnant as a result of being raped many times, they were forced to get an abortion in a dingy clinic inside the synagogue.

“We went into his room and I stood there. He said ‘off your clothes’ so I removed my clothes he just pointed so I lay down and then he raped me. He broke my virginity. I was screaming and he was whispering in my ears that I should stop acting like a baby. I was 17 years old. I was underage,” one of the women said.

One of the reported survivors confronted TB Joshua after she managed to escape. She recorded the encounter in videos she shared with the BBC. In the video, a security officer was heard threatening to shoot at the lady. Survivors said they were targeted, beaten, and shot at by thugs suspected to be working for the pastor.

The documentary also revealed how the church allegedly stage-managed and exaggerated miracles that were televised.

“People were told to exaggerate their problems so they could be healed, likewise, their healing so it could be perfected by God”, a witness who said he worked at the miracle department told the BBC.

“You’ve got this man who positioned himself as a father with many children and went on to rape, abuse, and molest all these people who call him daddy. How is somebody like that permitted to walk free.”

The documentary also delved into how TB Joshua allegedly maltreated and ostracised the daughter he had out of wedlock.

Ajoke, now 28 years old, told the BBC how she confronted her father about allegations of sexual abuse, and was subsequently thrown out of the church.

“The disciples dragged me out of the office, put me in a room and isolated me from the rest of the church. I wonder how I lived through that time because they were hitting me with belts, chains… I couldn’t take a shower for days. He was trying so hard to stop people from listening to me. He felt threatened by the fact that I knew what was happening,” she narrated.

Another aspect of the documentary that got Nigerians talking were revelations that TB Joshua was engaged in fake miracles.

Some of the witnesses gave first-hand accounts detailing how Joshua faked his “miracle healings” which were broadcast to millions of people in Nigeria and around the world.

One Agomoh Paul who was once regarded as Joshua’s number two man at SCOAN, said he left the church after staying in the compound for at least a decade.

Paul revealed that the whole “miracle thing” was scripted and acted out.

“That guy was a genius. Everything he did was planned out,” Paul stated, adding that a major part of the planning was the faking of the “miracles.”

Other witnesses who spoke in the documentary compared their experiences at the Synagogue Church to being in a cult.

They said they were often stripped and beaten with electrical cables and horse whips, and routinely denied sleep in scenes which looked like cult operations.

The response of the church is being awaited.

Related Topics:BBC Documentary Featured Synagogue TB Joshua

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Metro

Zambia: APP leader lampoons PF over pledge to reverse forfeited properties

Published

14 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Leader of one of Zambia’s opposition parties, Advocates for People’s Prosperity (APP), Mwenye Musenge, has criticised the Patriotic Front (PF) over its promise to reverse forfeited properties if the party won the 2026 presidential election.

Musenge, who was reacting to a statement credited to the PF Member of Parliament (MP) for Lukashya Province, George Chisanga, described the PF’s promise as a betrayal, saying the declaration had exposed the party’s disregard for accountability and justice.

The APP leader, who spoke to Zambia Monitor in a telephone interview from Kitwe, expressed shock that Chisanga, a former Law Association of Zambia president, would endorse what he termed a “regressive agenda,” accusing the PF of prioritising the protection of corrupt individuals over the welfare of citizens.

“This declaration reveals the PF’s true intentions, returning to power not to serve Zambians, but to shield their corrupt network and restore stolen assets,” Musenge said.

He alleged that former President Edgar Lungu’s consistent calls to protect his family, who he claimed cannot explain their amassed wealth, further demonstrate the party’s self-serving mission.

Musenge further described the PF as “a political carcass animated by greed and nostalgia for its days of unchecked looting,” and accused its leaders of leaving Zambia impoverished while enriching themselves.

“Allowing them near power again would be akin to handing a butcher’s knife to a thief already drenched in the blood of the nation’s resources.

“The PF represents everything wrong with Zambian politics—a relic of the past clinging to survival through recycled lies and corrupt agendas,” he added.

Musenge went on to call for the party to be permanently eradicated, saying it had no vision, morality, or credibility to serve Zambians.

Metro

Nigerian Senate confirms influx of terrorists from Mali, Burkina Faso into the country

Published

20 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Isaac Dachen

The Nigerian Senate has raised the alarm over the influx of terrorists from Mali and Burkina Faso who operate in the name of Lakurawa, into Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna and Niger States in the northern parts of the country.

The Upper Chamber, which raised the alarm during plenary on Wednesday, called on the military to set up early warning mechanisms to forestall further incursions by terrorist groups as well as maintain presence and vigilance in the affected communities to halt the activities of the terror group from spreading further across the region.

The resolutions of the Senate were sequel to a motion titled, “Urgent need for the federal government to take stringent measures to stop the infiltration of a group of violent terrorists, known as Lakurawa, from entrenching themselves in some northwest states of Sokoto and Kebbi,” and was sponsored by the senator representing Kebbi North, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, and co- sponsored by Senators Adamu Aliero, from Kebbi Central, and Garba Musa Maidoki, representing Kebbi South.

While presenting the motion, Senator Abdullahi said:

“The Senate is aware that a group of terrorists from neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, known as Lakurawa, has infiltrated the country through the Nigeria-Niger border, at Illela, Tangaza and Silame Local Government Areas of Sokoto and are from there, attacking communities in Augie and Arewa LGAs in Kebbi State.

“Recall that this violent gang of terrorists had raided and dispossessed these communities, prior to the large-scale invasion of Mera, a village in Augie Local Government, on November 8, 2024, killing more than 20 people and fleeing with their livestock, amounting to hundreds of millions of naira.

“Senate is aware that Kebbi State government promptly responded by sending a delegation with relief materials to the affected villages and assistance to the families of the deceased.

“Aware that Senator Yahaya A. Abdullahi (Kebbi North) and Senator Adamu Aliero (Kebbi North Central) and Senator Garba Musa Maidoki (Kebbi South), along with some members of the House of Representatives from Kebbi State, have been to those areas, to commiserate with victims of the attacks on behalf of the National Assembly.

“Aware that if timely, adequate and decisive measures are not taken, this group can spread its reign of terror to other northern parts of the country and beyond.

“Notes the prompt response of the ministry of defence and the armed forces who despatched a well-armed military response squad that was able to dislodge the terrorists and secured the release of herds of cattle and other livestock stolen by the terrorists. These foreigners have invaded the country.

“We need to nip the situation in the bud, they have international connections, heavily armed with very dangerous weapons, the federal government should take the matter very seriously.

‘These terrorists are well armed with highly sophisticated weapons, this is a very serious matter on national security, they control the whole of Northern Mali and now attacking Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Niger, and others. The time to act is now, we have to take action on how to tame terrorism.”

He said the Senate should revisit past resolutions on terrorism and send them to the Presidency for immediate action.

”I want us to recall what happened in the 8th and 9th Senates. We discussed extensively how we can stem the tide of banditry and terrorism. We made far-reaching recommendations, and we asked the Executive arm of government to implement those resolutions.

“It is still relevant for us to insist that those resolutions should be implemented, if we do so, it will reduce the incidences of banditry and insurgency in the country. We can reduce it to the barest minimum.”