Late Nigerian pastor TB Joshua was involved in the rape, torture and abuse of his church members, it has been revealed.
The BBC in a 3-part documentary which commenced airing on Sunday showcased survivors who took turns to tell stories of rape, forced abortions and torture’s at the church based in Ikotun, Lagos State.
Joshua’s Synagogue Church of all Nations, according to the survivors was a cesspool of illegalities.
According to the BBC, members – five British – allege atrocities, including rape and forced abortions, by the controversial preacher who died in June 2021.
The allegations of abuse in a secretive Lagos compound span almost 20 years the survivors told the news channel.
The BBC said it conducted a two-year investigation and its findings indicate that a culture of physical violence or torture carried out by Joshua, including instances of child abuse and people being whipped and chained. This is as findings showed that women alleged that they were sexually assaulted by Joshua, with a number claiming they were repeatedly raped for years inside the compound which once recorded a building collapse which was investigated by a Coroner whose reports was eventually not implemented.
More worrisome is the finding that miracles for which Joshua attracted thousands of visitors from different parts of the world were actually staged.
The BBC quotes a British woman, called Rae, who was 21 years old when she abandoned her degree at Brighton University in 2002 to join the church, as saying she sexually assaulted by Joshua.
Rea who spent the next 12 years as one of Joshua’s so-called “disciples” of SCOAN was quoted as saying, “We all thought we were in heaven, but we were in hell, and in hell terrible things happen,” she told the BBC.
Rae says she was sexually assaulted by Joshua and subjected to a form of solitary confinement for two years. The abuse was so severe, she says she attempted suicide multiple times inside the compound, the news channel further reports.
Jessica Kaimu, from Namibia, is also quoted by the BBC as saying she suffered abuse for more than five years. She says she was 17 when Joshua first raped her, and that subsequent instances of rape by TB Joshua led to her having five forced abortions while there.
“These were backdoor type… medical treatments that we were going through… it could have killed us,” she told the BBC.
Other interviewees say they were stripped and beaten with electrical cables and horse whips, and routinely denied sleep.
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