The founder of The Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Temitope Balogun Joshua AKA TB Joshua, has drawn public attention following a three-part BBC documentary investigating allegations of sexual crimes committed by the revered clergyman who passed away in 2021.
BBC released the documentary on Monday, January 8, 2024, featuring 25 eyewitnesses and alleged victims who claim to have lived with Joshua on his church premises at different times. We highlight the key revelations from the documentary:
TB Joshua wanted everything filmed on camera
An ex-SCOAN member, Agomoh Paul, recounted how TB Joshua invested 90% of the ministry’s earnings on VHS videos, issuing a single command to the camera crew: “Record everything”. The videos covered healings performed in SCOAN, adding authenticity to his gospel of miracle work.
Rae, a former member based abroad, shared how she first encountered TB Joshua through these videos.
“The day it started was the day I was shown videos from SCOAN. Nothing was ever the same. We didn’t know what we were going to see. As soon as it started playing, it had a profound effect on me,” Rae told BBC.
Anneka, another ex-SCOAN member based abroad, encountered the preacher in a similar fashion. “It was an African church. I was like “What am I seeing? What am I watching?” They were quite graphic. There was no warning. It was private body parts that were swollen and oozing with puss. People with cancers and growth just being vulnerable and desperate. It was shocking to see”.
In an old interview footage from the documentary, TB explained the rationale for capturing everything on camera. He said, “If Jesus wasn’t recorded in the Bible, you would not believe that he’s the same yesterday, today and forever.”
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He was a MOG with a raging temper
Several ex-members of the church claimed TB had a horrible temper under the holy man facade he put on for the rest of the world.
“One of my job was writing articles for the church. He called me in and said “Where’s the article? Have you not published it yet?” And I said “Sorry, sir. I’ve not published it yet,” and he slapped me.”
Another member recounted how people would run off when the clergyman was “hot” and how those who stayed back were slapped. “You didn’t see it as physical abuse. We were told it’s an honour to get slapped by him because he’s next to Jesus.”
An obsession with a white audience
Paul, who said he was once the second-in-command to TB Joshua, claimed the clergyman had a strong bias for white people. “He had special interest in oyinbo.”
The ex-SCOAN member recounted how Joshua had handed out VHS videos of miracles and confessions to a white pastor from South Africa, who had visited his church, and asked him to distribute them back at home. TB Joshua’s ploy to attract a white congregation worked.
“The greatest thing that pumped Synagogue church was when the foreigners started coming.”
The disciples are staunch loyalists of TB Joshua, saddled with the responsibility of preaching the church’s gospel and recruiting more members. Abisola and Paul told the BBC how they specifically went after vulnerable white members because they were easy to manipulate, especially the unmarried ones.
“Some intelligent disciples are sent to stalk on the whites. We don’t approach anyone, we look at you and how you fall into what is happening in SCOAN.”
Sexual abuse allegations
Several women, who were once under TB Joshua’s discipleship, alleged that they were sexually abused by the clergyman. Abisola, one of his earliest female disciples, claimed she was raped throughout the 14 years she was a member. She also revealed how the clergyman would ask her to find virgins.
“TB Joshua asked me to find virgins for him, to bring young girls into the disciple fold. In the midnight, this person would be called into his bedroom so that he could disvirgin them.
“We went into his room, and I stood there. He said, “Off your clothes,” so I removed my clothes. He just pointed, so I lay down, and then he raped me. He broke my virginity. I was screaming, and he was whispering in my ears that I should stop acting like a baby. I was 17 years old. I was underage,” another ex-member of SCOAN told the BBC.
The guest house collapse of 2014
On September 12, 2014, a guest house within the premises of SCOAN ministries in Ikotun-Egbe, Lagos, collapsed and killed 115 people. TB Joshua maintained that the building collapse resulted from an aircraft hovering over the said building.
In the documentary, Emmanuel, an ex-worker at SCOAN, claimed the church building had a structural defect. Rae corroborated Emmanuel’s claim to the BBC, adding that the late TB Joshua went against professional advice to increase the stories.
“The building collapse is a prime example of life under TB Joshua. It’s a series of cover-ups. This incident was so significant that it was nearly impossible for him to conceal,” Rae said.
