The recent documentary by the BBC’s Africa Eye has uncovered new evidence suggesting that the late Nigerian megachurch leader, TB Joshua, hid dead bodies and intimidated families to cover up his role in the 2014 collapse of a building at his Synagogue Church of All Nations (Scoan) in Lagos, which resulted in the deaths of at least 116 people. The incident, one of the worst disasters in the history of places of worship in Africa, is now being revisited nearly 10 years later.
This revelation comes as shocking revelations of widespread abuse and torture by the founder of one of the biggest Christian evangelical churches in the world were exposed during the documentary, with evidence provided by former disciples of TB Joshua and his daughter, Ajoke.
Two days after the collapse on September 12, 2014, TB Joshua publicly attributed it to an aircraft flying over the building used to house visiting pilgrims. However, a Lagos coroner’s inquiry contradicted this, stating that structural failure, without proper planning permission, caused the collapse.
Former disciples of TB Joshua, who spoke to during the documentary, claim that the late prophet was aware of serious structural problems before the disaster. They argue that the airplane explanation was a deliberate falsehood. Emmanuel, a former disciple, revealed, “He knew the building was unstable,” recounting that TB Joshua received a report hours before the collapse indicating that the building was “swaying” and “shaking.”
Eyewitnesses disclosed that visitors were not warned of the structural issues. Instead, over 200 of them were led into the building’s dining room on the ground floor, where they were seated when the six-storey structure collapsed.
Former disciples detailed TB Joshua’s insistence on constructing additional floors beyond the building’s foundations’ capacity. Rae, who lived in the church for 12 years, stated, “He just kept kind of pushing and saying, ‘I want it higher. It must go higher. It must go higher.'”
Testimonies provided within the documentary claim that TB Joshua delayed emergency services’ access to the site for 24 hours after the collapse. During this crucial time, church workers, without mechanical equipment or medical training, reportedly attempted reckless and amateur rescue efforts.
Eyewitnesses recounted gruesome scenes, including a church worker allegedly using a chainsaw to amputate a trapped man’s leg. They also asserted that TB Joshua ordered workers to move dead bodies away from the site during the night, away from public and media scrutiny.
Chloe, a former disciple from the UK, recalled an awful smell in a bus, which she later discovered was transporting dead bodies at night to evade media attention.
Some of the family members of those who died in the incident also spoke during the documentary, providing corroborating evidence, indicating that TB Joshua tried to buy their silence and, in some cases, threatened them.
A woman who lost her daughter narrated how TB Joshua told her that if she focused on what she had lost, she would lose everything else, indicating that her whole family would be killed if she did not forget about her daughter.
Multiple sources suspect the official death toll of 116 may be inaccurate, alleging that friends and church workers who were present during the collapse were not recorded in the official list of the dead.
It was further confirmed within the documentary that legal action was commenced, but TB Joshua failed to attend court, and nothing was done about it until he died.
The families of those who died in the church building collapse, many of whom were South Africans, are still expecting to get closure from the incident as not one has been held accountable to date.
