Investigation reveals cases of torture and sexual abuse in ‘megasects’ in Africa

This Monday a BBC investigation which shows cases of sexual abuse, rape and torture perpetrated by deceased TB Joshua , who was the founder and Pentecostal televangelist of one of the largest evangelical churches in the world. According to the British network, dozens of centers belonging to The Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) -the religious organization that runs the Emmanuel TV television channel in Lagos- denounced the atrocities committed by the Nigerian televangelist, who died in 2021 for causes still unknown.

Among the atrocities committed by the religious leader, who had a huge global network of followers, are numerous cases of abuse committed within a “secret” compound located in Lagos, Nigeria, where the accusations date back nearly 20 years old. There are eyewitness accounts of sexual assault, physical abuse, false miracles and trauma suffered due to the actions of the late Nigerian pastor, Temitope Balogun Joshua, also known as TB Joshua.

In his life, TB Joshua had the world at his feet during the heyday of the Church of All Nations Synagogue in the 1990s and 2000s. “profit” was a charismatic and highly successful speaker and telepreacher, and had a huge following among Christians around the world, through the broadcast of your channel Emmanuel TV .

He was born in 1963 and was raised by his Muslim uncle after the death of his Christian father. After leaving poverty, he managed to make his fortune as a telepreacher and miracle worker , reputed to be able to cure diseases by the simple act of laying hands on the sick. Until his death, TB Joshua was one of the most important evangelical pastors in Africa and even in the religious world, according to the Spanish media El Debate.

With his fortune, he founded Synagogue of All Nations Church , a sort of religious empire counting political leaders, international athletes and celebrities among its followers. According to him, he founded his Church after receiving a message from God during a dream vision in which he heard these words: “I am your God. I give you the divine mission to undertake and build the work of your heavenly Father.

He became one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. Nigeria . He had several luxury cars and a private jet at his service. Pilgrims from all over the world traveled to the African country to observe how he performed his “miracles” of healing and exorcism. According to the religious leader, he had succeeded in restoring sight to the blind, curing AIDS in people infected with HIV and expelling demons. Her healing sessions included a a shocking theatricalization with patients who collapsed and began convulsing after TB Joshua touched them only to wake up perfectly cured of their ailments when they came out of the trance.

However, just as he had followers, he had detractors, who questioned the accuracy of his prophecies, the veracity of certain miracles, the personalism of his ministry and, above all, the alleged increase in his financial assets. Although he always defended that his organization was an evangelical church, the truth is that even the Church Nigerian Christian Association not even Nigerian Pentecostal Community the main organizations which bring together the official evangelical churches, accepted it and described TB Joshua as a “impostor” and “occultist” .

As part of the investigation carried out by the BBC in collaboration with the international platform Open democracy Over two years, they discovered that TB Joshua had repeatedly perpetrated child abuse, sexual assault including continuous rape within the compound, forced abortions, details of how the televangelist had simulated his “miraculous healings” and how the speaker kept people whipped and chained. . Four British victims of the televangelist said they reported the abuse to UK authorities after fleeing the Church, although no action was taken.

“More than 25 eyewitnesses and alleged victims, from the UK, Nigeria, Ghana, USA, South Africa and Germany, have recounted what was happening inside the TB compound Joshua, with the most recent experiences dating back to 2019. Testimony from “dozens of survivors suggests that TB Joshua abused and raped young women around the world several times a week for nearly 20 years,” the report notes.

Most of the victims were teenagers when they joined the church. To some Britons, TB Joshua paid for their transfer to Lagos, in coordination with other churches in the UK. . This was the case for Rae, who was 21 when she dropped out of the University of Brighton (in the south of England) in 2002 and was recruited by the Church. She spent the next 12 years as one of TB Joshua’s so-called “disciples” in his maze-like concrete compound in Lagos.

“We all thought we were in heaven, but we were in hell.” , and terrible things happen in hell,” he told the BBC. Rae alleged that TB Joshua sexually assaulted her and subjected her to a form of solitary confinement for two years. The abuse was so severe that, according to her, He attempted suicide several times inside the facility. .

Rae and many other interviewees compared their experiences to those of a cult, notes the British channel. Jessica Kaimu, from Namibia, said her ordeal lasted more than five years. She claimed that when she was 17, TB Joshua first raped her and that subsequent situations led her to five forced abortions during my stay . “These medical treatments that we were undergoing could have killed us,” he admitted to the BBC.

Today, ministries founded by former disciples of TB Joshua continue to propagate some of the abusive spiritual practices of the televangelist, even after his death, according to the British newspaper openDemocracy, a key collaborator in the investigation with the BBC. “From Lagos to London, from Wales to Washington State, and from Tampa, Florida to Thessaloniki, Greece, the ministries of former TB Joshua loyalists can boast a collective of five million followers on social media and over 194 million views on YouTube,” the openDemocracy analysis says, adding that the reach of all former ministers is far greater than that of TB Joshua’s church, left to lead by his wife and successor, Evelyn Joshua.

The Synagogue Church of All Nations did not respond to the allegations, but said the claims were unfounded.