BBC Africa’s Eye has exposed the purported means through which the late Nigerian televangelist, TB Joshua, allegedly orchestrated miracles that captivated millions of followers.
Joshua passed away on June 5, 2021. In an investigation and a three-part documentary delving into the activities of the controversial cleric and televangelist, the BBC conducted interviews with no fewer than 30 former members and employees of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN).
The three-part documentary unveiled the covert lifestyle of SCOAN’s now-deceased founder, disclosing accounts of abuse, harassment, rape, manipulation, and staged miracles.
Insiders informed the BBC that the church was aware of these allegations but never initiated an inquiry, alleging that the sexual misconduct extended over two decades.
The preacher, accused of widespread abuse and torture spanning nearly two decades, established the SCOAN in Lagos over 30 years ago. His rapid ascent to fame was closely associated with his self-proclaimed divine powers and alleged ability to heal the sick.
As per BBC Africa Eye, the dramatic healings, featuring the physically disabled walking and, in one instance, supposedly resurrecting a deceased person, were recorded. Alongside testimonials from those he claimed to have healed, these recordings were distributed on VHS tapes to churches worldwide.
In 2004, Nigeria’s broadcast regulator prohibited the airing of pastors’ supposed miracles on live terrestrial TV, leading Joshua to launch Emmanuel TV on satellite and later online.
His global television and social media network became one of the world’s most successful Christian platforms, broadcasting his alleged miracles to millions across Europe, the Americas, South East Asia, and Africa. His YouTube channel garnered hundreds of millions of views.
The BBC report contends that Joshua, who passed away at the age of 57 in 2021, was a charlatan.
The BBC’s investigation, engaging over 25 church insiders from the UK, Nigeria, Ghana, the US, South Africa, and Germany, dissects six methods by which he deceived worshippers.
See the 6 methods below:
1: The Emergency Department
An exclusive section of the church, known as the “emergency department,” was tasked with making the supposed miracles appear genuine. Here, the sick seeking healing would undergo screening, and the team would determine who should be filmed and prayed for by Joshua.
Agomoh Paul, who supervised the department for ten years, receiving direct instructions from Joshua, informed the BBC that the team was “trained by medical doctors.”
A former disciple, part of an elite group living with the pastor inside the SCOAN compound, revealed, “Any cancerous situation, they send them away. Then people with normal open wounds that can heal, they bring them in, to present as cancer.”
Only a select group of trusted disciples were permitted to work in the emergency department. They would prepare placards for each follower, detailing their fabricated or exaggerated ailments. When it was time to meet Joshua, they would stand in line in front of the cameras and be “healed.”
“It was a complicated system. Not all disciples knew what was happening. It was a secret,” said Mr. Paul.
2: Drugs
Every foreign visitor seeking healing at the church had to fill out a medical report detailing their illness and prescribed medication. They would be instructed to stop taking them, while Joshua would order pharmacists to obtain the same medicine.
Unbeknownst to visitors, the drugs would be added to their fruit drinks, explained Mr. Paul. People were encouraged to drink the cocktail blessed by Joshua, ensuring they would not become unwell while residing at SCOAN, thus reinforcing belief in the divine healing powers of their pastor.
In the 1990s, during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, Joshua instructed visitors to stop taking their antiretroviral medication upon returning home.
“I know people died because they didn’t take their medicine, and it’s difficult to live with that,” admitted a former disciple.
Tash Ford, now 49, who went to Lagos from Johannesburg in 2001 hoping to have her failing kidney healed, was told to stop taking her drugs. She believed in the promise of receiving a new kidney supernaturally. Despite initially thinking she had been healed, after four weeks of not taking her medicine, she experienced renal failure upon returning home, ultimately leading to a third kidney transplant in 2011.
3: Brainwashing
Ms. Ford asserted that during her time at SCOAN, she never doubted the miracles, witnessing someone walking out of a wheelchair. The theatricality seemed to captivate everyone.
The former disciple revealed that after screening, chosen followers were instructed to “exaggerate their problems so that God can heal you and exaggerate your healing.”
“The people themselves are clearly being manipulated,” she stated.
The church had a ready supply of wheelchairs, and followers were coerced to use them, warned that they would not be healed unless they sat in one when meeting Joshua.
“We are telling them, ‘If you come out there and walk with your legs, Papa will not pray for you. You need to shout: ‘Man of God, help me, I cannot walk,’” explained Mr. Paul.
Bisola, another former disciple, who spent 14 years at SCOAN, recounted accompanying Joshua on a National Healing Campaign in Singapore in 2006. She witnessed people in wheelchairs attempting to stand up after Joshua claimed to have released Faith into the stadium. However, these individuals had not been screened, and she observed them falling down. She expressed deep sadness for their plight.
Emergency department workers endured manipulation themselves, subjected to horrifying ordeals, including rape, physical violence, and torture. They lived by strict rules, forbidden to sleep for more than a few hours at a time. Now struggling to comprehend why they continued to follow the pastor’s orders, Mr. Paul recalled Joshua telling him, “Don’t worry, we use this thing to build people’s faith in Christ.”
For Ms. Ford, this revelation shattered her faith in organised religion. She expressed a wish to have known the truth, realising she had been manipulated into believing in supernatural miracles and signs by the prophet.
4: Bribes
Some disciples claimed they were tasked with finding people who needed money to feign illness. During healing crusades outside Nigeria, they would visit impoverished areas, convincing people to act out a scene for payment.
“We would say, ‘We need you to just act out this particular scene, and we will pay you,’” revealed another former disciple.
They would arrange accommodations for these individuals, clean them up, and pay them after performing their act. Before the service, they would inform Joshua of the planted individuals’ locations and attire, facilitating his supposed miracles.
“People would be brought in just to pretend that they were healed,” stated the former disciple.
5: Fake Medical Certificates
Miracles broadcast to millions often featured medical reports claiming individuals had been cured of HIV/AIDS and diseases like cancer. On-camera interviews with doctors confirmed the cures. In 2000, Nigerian journalist Adejuwon Soyinka reported that these medical certificates were fake, but Joshua quashed the investigation, and it went nowhere.
While some still believe they were healed, insiders argue it was all part of the late preacher’s performance.
“The whole thing is stage-managed and faked. It’s faked,” insisted Mr. Paul, describing Joshua as an “evil genius.”
He stressed that nothing occurred in the compound without Joshua’s knowledge, asserting, “TB Joshua was the one who masterminded the whole manipulation.”
6: Manipulation of Video Footage
The filming of “miracles” was followed by meticulous editing, creating the illusion of instantaneous healing. Before and after sequences were seamlessly combined to showcase the alleged miraculous abilities, yet in reality, the footage was captured months, or even a year, apart.
“All you see on TV is the before and after; you don’t know the time space,” disclosed Bisola, Scoan’s chief video editor for five years, who, like other insiders interviewed by the BBC, chose to use only her first name.
“What people see is not real. It is fraud,” she asserted regarding the clips and broadcasts under her purview. Speaking as an insider, she emphasized that unwanted scenes were purposefully excluded through meticulous editing and organization.
TB Joshua’s church, the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), denied previous claims and allegations against the late pastor. Despite the revelations made by former disciples and insiders, SCOAN dismissed the allegations as unfounded.
The church did not respond to the specific allegations brought forth in the BBC investigation.