A trustee of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) has reacted to the BBC investigative documentary where some former members of the church (disciples) accused its founder, the late TB Joshua, of horrific human rights violations and faking televised miracles.
The trustee, who said he had worked with TB Joshua till his demise and is the face of Emmanuel TV (the broadcast of SCOAN activities) commentaries, said that even though he would have liked to remain silent, as TB Joshua would, he is speaking up to encourage the millions of followers of the church who might be at lost at this trying time.
He described that all the allegations made against the founder of the church are mere fabrications meant to tarnish his (TB Joshua) reputation from “disgruntled persons who could not endure the discipline of discipleship”.
He said that but for Bisola, all the former disciples of TB Joshua in the BBC documentary met him in the ministry because he had been there for over 27 years.
The trustee, in a recorded video shared on social media, debunked all the allegations in the video including the one of the late TB Joshua stopping his disciples from getting married; saying, “He only taught us that it is better for one to secure his or her future first before going into marriage.”
He said that the disciple by the name of Angelic in the BBC documentary lied when she said TB Joshua stopped her from getting married to another disciple. He said TB Joshua advised her not to get married based on his principle of marriage and Angelic left and travelled to her country only to come back with hidden cameras to accuse the prophet of sleeping with her.
The trustee also said that another disciple, Agamo Paul, who was sent as an evangelist to the SCOAN branch in Ghana, wanted to marry the daughter of a regional minister after the prophet advised him not to because a vision he (Joshua) had showed there was no future for that relationship.
Months after TB Joshua’s warning, the regional minister's daughter died which led to Agamo Paul rebelling. Paul is said to have subsequently left the church with the prophet's blessing.
On Rachel the British woman in the document who said “I thought I would take what he did to me to the grave. I did not know that that thing had happened to anybody else”, the trustee said as she confirmed in the documentary, she had the “spirit of a woman” and was sent back home by TB Johsua to her country after she refused to be delivered.
Background:
British public broadcaster (the BBC) showed their widely-publicized investigative documentary on a powerful African pastor who subjected his members to horrifying human rights abuses.
The pastor in question turned out to be the late globally feted Nigerian Prophet T.B. Joshua of the Synagogue, Church of All Nations (SCOAN).
BBC in the wee hours of January 8, 2024; released a three-part series each averaging 50 minutes of the film titled DISCIPLES: The Cult of TB Joshua.
There is an exclusive screening scheduled in Accra, on Tuesday, January 9, 2024.
In the videos seen by GhanaWeb, some of Joshua's victims narrated extensively the alleged horrifying experiences they went through.
Most spoke out of deep pain, while others sobbed, stating among others that they were under the pretext that they were, individually, the only ones Joshua was abusing, unaware that it involved many others.
Some of the victims, who happened to be close associates of Johsua spoke about his love for money, manipulation of his disciples and his confessed vow to retaliate for the excesses of colonialism.
There was also the part about how Joshua had become influential in political circles with flamboyant visits to presidents and similar visits to SCOAN by African leaders.
Temitope Balogun Joshua, popularly known as T. B. Joshua, was a Nigerian charismatic pastor, televangelist, and philanthropist.
Watch how the trustee debunked all the allegations in the BBC documentary in the video below: