By Premium Times
A BBC investigation has revealed how the late Nigerian pastor, TB Joshua, sexually and physically assaulted members of his church.
At least 25 people gave eyewitness accounts alleging assaults, fake miracles and trauma.
The late Joshua, one of Africa’s most influential religious leaders and richest pastors, had the world at his feet during his lifetime and was famous for performing miracles. He founded the Synagogue Church of All Nations, a gigantic building in Lagos State, South-west Nigeria. He died in June 2023. The cause of his death was not shared with the public.
In its report, BBC said eyewitnesses from the UK, Nigeria, Ghana, the US, South Africa and Germany provided accounts of how the clergy abused women from around the world several times a week for nearly 20 years.
A broadcast journalist in Namibia, Jessica Kaimu, said that she was raped by Joshua at the age of 17, in the bathroom of his penthouse, within weeks of her becoming a disciple.
“I was screaming and he was whispering in my ear that I should stop acting like a baby… I was so traumatised, I couldn’t cry.”
Kaimu noted that she was raped for five years throughout her stay as a disciple.
Another woman who craved anonymity stated that it happened to her twice before the age of 15.
“It was so painful, he violated me. Words cannot properly express it. It scarred me for life,” she said.
The report noted that there were accounts by four of Joshua’s male personal servants who were given the job of clearing up the physical evidence of this abuse.
They also placed plastic gloves on his hands so he could eat his food without touching a crumb.
“We’d never seen anything like that before,” said a journalist who covers African religion, Solomon Ashoms, adding, “The mysteries that he had, the secrets that he carried, [were] what people followed.”
A man once regarded as TB Joshua’s number two in the church, Agomoh Paul, who left after 10 years in the compound, revealed that the whole business of miracles was scripted.
He and other sources said that those “cured” had often been paid to perform or exaggerate their symptoms before their supposed healing took place.
In some cases, they said, people had been unknowingly drugged or given medicine to improve their conditions while at the church, and later persuaded to give testimony about their recovery. Others were falsely told they had tested positive for HIV/Aids and that, thanks to Joshua’s ministrations, they had now become virus-free.
The disciples said they were made to work, without pay, for long hours each day — running all aspects of the megachurch. All say sleep deprivation was routine, with lights left on in the dormitories at night, the report stated.
The church, which is still in operation today, is led by his widow, Evelyn. In his lifetime, TB Joshua attracted dozens of politicians and celebrities to his church.
Pictured above: TB Joshua.
Image source: Premium Times
