Dozens of women have come forward to make on-the-record accusations against the late TB Joshua, citing widespread rape, abuse and torture, according to a recently revealed BBC investigation. The investigation took more than two years to complete and was done in collaboration with the international media platform Open Democracy. It involved over 15 BBC journalists spanning multiple continents, gathering and archiving hundreds of hours of eyewitness testimony and other footage.
In 2021, Nigeria’s most controversial pastor, the “prophet” T. B. Joshua, passed away at the age of 57. Joshua was best known for being the head of the Synagogue Church of all Nations (SCOAN) that claimed 15,000 members, along with owning and operating Emmanuel TV. His net worth was estimated to be between 15-25 million dollars and was considered one of the richest pastors in the world.
A false prophet and heretic, he routinely made prophecies that did not come true, including saying that Flight MH370 would be soon be discovered, that the 200 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram would quickly be released, and that the 2014 Ebola scare and COVID-19 would end mere months after they begun.
He was known far and wide for his claims he had healed thousands from HIV, cancer, blindness, deafness, and had even raised people from the dead on a regular basis. A prosperity preacher huckster in its purest form, he pushed the usual tropes like miraculous healing water, miracle bead, and even “holy stickers” that would cure every ailment and physical malady under the sun. To bolster his image, he claimed he had a divine birth, spending 15 months in the womb.
According to a new report by the BBC, dozens of his ex-congregants have come forward accusing the heretic of abusing them in his Lagos compound:
- “Dozens of eyewitness accounts of physical violence or torture carried out by Joshua, including instances of child abuse and people being whipped and chained
- Numerous women who say they were sexually assaulted by Joshua, with a number claiming they were repeatedly raped for years inside the compound
- Multiple allegations of forced abortions inside the church following the alleged rapes by Joshua, including one woman who says she had five terminations
- Multiple first-hand accounts detailing how Joshua faked his “miracle healings”, which were broadcast to millions of people around the world.”
The Namibian recounts one story :
Jessica Kaimu, now a broadcast journalist in Namibia, says she was just 17 and a virgin when Joshua raped her 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 traumatized, I couldn’t cry,” she says. Jessica says this encounter was repeated again and again, throughout the five years she spent as a disciple. Her account mirrors that of other women who spoke to the BBC, and also of accounts by four of Joshua’s male personal servants who were given the job of clearing up the physical evidence of this abuse.”
