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BBC Investigation Reveals TB Joshua Raped, Tortured Members

Published

2 years ago

January 8, 2024

Editor

No fewer than 25 persons have given eyewitness accounts bordering on allegations of sexual assault, physical abuse, faked miracles and trauma -allegedly suffered in the hands of a late Nigerian pastor, Temitope Joshua, aka TB Joshua, BBC reports Monday.

Joshua, one of Africa’s most influential religious leaders and richest pastors, had the world at his feet during his lifetime.

He was the founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, a 12-storey building, situated in the Ikotun area of Lagos State, where he lived alongside many of his followers.

Joshua was popular for his miracles – which ‘delivered’ people – followers and visitors – of any ailment, ranging from cancer and HIV/AIDS to chronic migraines and blindness.

The healings performed by Joshua caught the attention of a far-reaching global audience among evangelical churches throughout Europe and Africa in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Many of his followers were drawn by his philanthropy, but most came for his so-called miracles.

Recall that the clergy, born in 1963, died on Saturday, June 5, 2021, a week before his 58th birthday.

The cause of his death was not revealed.

However, a statement by the church said the clergyman spent his last moment on earth in the service of God.

However, the BBC said it conducted a two-year investigation, in collaboration with an international media platform – Open Democracy, which involved more than 15 BBC journalists across three continents.

The report stated that former insiders estimated that Joshua made tens of millions of dollars from pilgrims and other money streams – fundraising, video sales, and stadium appearances abroad.

The investigation centered around allegations of sexual assault, physical abuse, solitary confinement, and fake miracles, amongst others.

“More than 25 eyewitnesses and alleged victims, from the UK, Nigeria, Ghana, US, South Africa and Germany, have provided accounts of what it was like inside Joshua’s compound, with the most recent experiences in 2019.

“Testimony from dozens of survivors suggests Joshua was abusing and raping young women from around the world several times a week for nearly 20 years.” the report noted.

One of the victims who was part of the ‘disciples,’ an elite group of followers who served and lived with Joshua inside his compound; 21-year-old female Briton, Rae, gave a recount of her experience.

She was, at that time, studying graphic design at a university in Brighton, UK, in 2002.

A close friend of Rae, Carla, recalled how they both travelled to Nigeria in search of a mysterious man who could seemingly heal people with his hands. He was a Christian pastor, with a black beard, in white robes. His name was TB Joshua. His followers called him “The Prophet.”

Rae and Carla planned to visit his church, the SCOAN, for just one week. But Rae never came home. She had moved into Joshua’s compound.

“I left her there,” says Carla, tears flowing freely. “Never will I ever forgive myself for that.

“For me, it was like she died, but I couldn’t grieve her,” Carla revealed.

Rae, in her account, stated that she was gay and thought being healed by Joshua would solve her predicament.

She narrated, “I was gay and I didn’t want to be,” she says. “I thought: ‘Well, maybe this is the answer to my problems. Maybe this man can straighten me out. Like if he prays for me, I won’t be gay anymore.’”

Rae described the moment she stepped foot into the Synagogue, saying, “I had a really involuntary reaction. I just broke down in floods of tears.”

She stated that at that point, Joshua singled her out to become a “disciple.”

She had thought the clergyman would “cure” her sexuality and learn under his tutelage, but to her imagination, her thought never materialised.

“We all thought we were in heaven, but we were in hell,” adding, “And in hell terrible things happen.”

Rae narrated how she went through psychological trauma for two years, during which she was forbidden from leaving the compound, and nobody inside was allowed to talk to her., adding that she attempted to commit suicide five times.

Many of the victims said it happened frequently – as much as two to four times a week – for the duration of their time in the compound. Some described violent rapes which left them struggling to breathe or bleeding.

Many believed they were the only ones being assaulted and did not dare share what was happening to them with the other disciples, as they were all encouraged to report on each other.

Rae noted that it’s “extremely difficult to understand how somebody can go through psychological abuse to the extent that they lose their critical thinking.”

“I was basically in total isolation… I had a complete breakdown. I tried to commit suicide five times,” she said.

After spending 12 years inside Joshua’s compound, Rae returned to England.

She had slipped away from the disciples while travelling with the church on a tour to Mexico, stating, “He made a huge mistake, he lost control of me.”

Rae stated that it was only after she left that she realised that her family and friends had been sending her emails. She had never received them.

“On the outside, I look normal, but I’m not. This story is like a horror story. It’s like something you watch in fiction, but it’s true,” Rae said while she recalled the tragic trauma and the impacts it’s had on her.

She expressed her disappointment that Joshua didn’t wait to face the consequences of the atrocities he had committed before his death.

“TB Joshua dying before facing justice for the atrocities he committed, has been deeply frustrating. It’s only added to the gross sense of injustice felt by all of us as his victims,” she noted.

BBC stated that it contacted SCOAN with the allegations in the investigation. They did not respond to them but denied previous claims against Joshua.

“Making unfounded allegations against Prophet TB Joshua is not a new occurrence… None of the allegations was ever substantiated,” the church stated.

The BBC stated that former followers have previously tried to speak out about abuse, but say they had been silenced or discredited by SCOAN, while two said they were physically assaulted.

When the BBC’s Africa Eye was filming outside the church, a security guard shot above the heads of the crew after they refused to hand over their material, the report noted.

A Nigerian, Bisola, who was also a ‘disciple,’ stated that she was raped multiple times by the late clergyman.

Bisola, who spent 14 years inside the compound, added that she was asked to recruit virgin girls into the disciple fold under threats of violence.

“TB Joshua asked me to recruit virgins for him… So that he could bring them into the disciple-fold and disvirgin them,” she revealed.

Bisola told the BBC that courting Westerners was a key tactic employed by Joshua.

“He used the white people to market his brand,” she said.

The report stated that many of the young people who left their home countries to meet Joshua in the early 2000s didn’t pay for their tickets.

It added that Church groups across England raised funds to send pilgrims to Lagos to witness these miracles – and Joshua contributed Scoan money himself, senior former church insiders said.

Later, once the church was well established, Joshua charged high prices for pilgrims to come and stay.

A broadcast journalist in Namibia, Jessica Kaimu, narrated that she was raped by Joshua at the age of 17, in the bathroom of his penthouse, within weeks of her becoming a disciple.

She stated that Joshua wasn’t moved by her screams, saying, “I was screaming and he was whispering in my ear that I should stop acting like a baby… I was so traumatised, I couldn’t cry.”

Kaimu noted that she was raped for five years throughout her stay as a disciple.

A woman who craved anonymity stated that it happened to her twice before the age of 15.

“It was so painful, he violated me. Words cannot properly express it. It scarred me for life,” she said.

The report noted that there were accounts by four of Joshua’s male personal servants who were given the job of clearing up the physical evidence of this abuse.

“We’d never… seen anything like that before,” said a journalist who covers African religion, Solomon Ashoms, adding, “The mysteries that he had, the secrets that he carried, [were] what people followed.”

Another victim, Victoria (not real name), stated that she spent more than five years in the compound, adding that some victims were often hand-picked by Joshua from the church congregation.

While recounting her ordeal, Victoria said she was picked out while attending the church’s Sunday school, and says she was raped in Joshua’s private quarters a few months later, after her parents entrusted her into his care.

She was later recruited as a resident disciple.

Victoria said Joshua ordered some of his most trusted Nigerian disciples to help identify new victims, identifying the group which was informally known as the “fishing department.”

A former South African disciple, Sihle, narrated that she had three forced abortions in the church.

Sihle said, “You are given a concoction to drink and you get sick. Or they put these metal pieces in your vagina and they extract whatever. And you don’t know whether they’re [accidentally] pulling out your womb.”

The investigative report noted that the disciples served Joshua’s every need, from massages to helping him dress, and spray his perfume when he entered the room.

They also placed plastic gloves on his hands so he could eat his food without touching a crumb.

A man once regarded as Joshua’s number two in the church, Agomoh Paul, who left after 10 years in the compound, revealed that the whole miracle thing was scripted.

“That guy [was] a genius. Everything… [he did was] planned out,” Paul stated.

A major part of this planning was the faking of the “miracles” said Paul, which he noted he oversaw.

He and other sources say that those “cured” had often been paid to perform or exaggerate their symptoms before their supposed healing took place.

In some cases, they say, people had been unknowingly drugged or given medicine to improve their conditions while at the church, and later persuaded to give testimony about their recovery. Others were falsely told they had tested positive for HIV/AIDS and that, thanks to Joshua’s ministrations, they had now become virus-free.

Paul also noted that Joshua “wanted to control everybody, everything. What he was really scrambling for [was] the control of people’s minds.”

The disciples said they were made to work, without pay, for long hours each day – running all aspects of the megachurch. All say sleep deprivation was routine, with lights left on in the dormitories at night, the report stated.

The church, which is still in operation today, is led by his widow, Evelyn.

In his lifetime, Joshua attracted dozens of politicians and celebrities to his church.

Headline

Trump Administration Proposes New Rule Limiting Nigerians, Others

Published

19 hours ago

August 28, 2025

Editor

The Trump administration has unveiled a proposal that would restrict the length of time international students can remain in the United States for their studies.

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the regulation, which is expected to be published on Thursday, would impose a four-year cap on student visas and other categories of temporary admissions.

According to Fox News, the DHS said the proposal is part of efforts to curb “visa abuse” and strengthen the government’s ability to “properly vet and oversee these individuals.”

It added that some students have “taken advantage of U.S. generosity” and become “forever” students by staying enrolled in colleges to prolong their residence.

“For too long, past Administrations have allowed foreign students and other visa holders to remain in the U.S. virtually indefinitely, posing safety risks, costing untold amount of taxpayer dollars, and disadvantaging U.S. citizens,” a DHS spokesperson stated.

“This new proposed rule would end that abuse once and for all by limiting the amount of time certain visa holders are allowed to remain in the U.S., easing the burden on the federal government to properly oversee foreign students and their history,” the spokesperson continued.

Currently, F visa holders may stay in the U.S. for the “duration of status,” meaning the period they are enrolled full-time. The new proposal would allow stays for the length of a programme but would not permit them to exceed four years, generally less than the time needed for postgraduate studies.

Foreign journalists would also be affected. Under the plan, they would receive an initial admission period of 240 days, with the possibility of a single extension for another 240 days, but not longer than their assignment.

The DHS said regular assessments would provide “proper oversight” and help reduce the number of people residing in the U.S. on temporary visas.

But education experts warned the measure could hurt universities financially. International students typically pay higher tuition and have fewer opportunities for scholarships, which contributes significantly to the financial support of American colleges.

“It will certainly act as an additional deterrent to international students choosing to study in the United States, to the detriment of American economies, innovation, and global competitiveness,” Fanta Aw, executive director and CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, said in a statement to Politico.

Headline

Russia Hits Ukraine With ‘Massive’ Deadly Overnight Strikes

Published

23 hours ago

August 28, 2025

Editor

Russian forces launched a “massive” attack on Kyiv on Thursday, hitting the Ukrainian capital with strikes that killed at least four people and wounded around 30 others, Ukrainian officials said.

The attack came as Moscow and Kyiv traded blame over an impasse in diplomatic efforts towards a peace deal spearheaded by US President Donald Trump.

AFP journalists in Kyiv witnessed powerful explosions that illuminated the night sky and left behind a column of smoke.

Ukraine’s Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said the strikes killed four people and wounded “about 30 people.”

Those killed included a 14-year-old girl, while five children aged seven to 17 were among those who sustained “injuries of varying severity,” Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the city’s military administration, said.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko described the strikes as a “massive attack” that caused damage in several districts of the capital.

Tkachenko said Moscow had fired ballistic and cruise missiles as well as Iranian-designed Shahed drones from different directions to “systematically” target residential buildings.

Red tracer bullets sailed through the night sky in an effort to intercept drones above the city centre, an AFP journalist saw. At least one missile appeared to be shot down.

Around 100 people took refuge in a subway station, with some lying in sleeping bags and others holding their pets.

A five-story building in the Darnytsky district had collapsed, and a shopping mall was hit in the city centre, Klitschko reported.

– Ukrainian attacks on Russia –
Kyiv suffered one of its worst attacks of the over three-year war on July 31, leaving more than 30 people dead including five children.

Ukrainian officials also reported a Russian strike in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region on Thursday.

Russian authorities said they destroyed over 100 Ukrainian drones overnight. A Ukrainian attack sparked a fire at an oil refinery in the Krasnodar region but caused no casualties, according to local officials.

Russian forces have been slowly but steadily gaining ground in Ukraine in recent months, as diplomatic efforts have accelerated.

Trump held a high-profile summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska this month, followed by a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky and European allies.

But there has been little progress since then.

Before concluding any peace agreement, Ukraine wants security guarantees from the West to deter any future Russian attacks.

Moscow has cast Kyiv’s demands as unrealistic and has raised particular objection to the notion of stationing Western peacekeeping troops in Ukraine.

Zelensky said on Wednesday that members of his administration would meet with US officials in New York on Friday.

The Ukrainian leader said he saw “very arrogant and negative signals from Moscow regarding the negotiations”, urging extra “pressure” to “force Russia to take real steps”.

AFP

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Two US Pastors Arrested In $50m Human Trafficking, Fraud Case

Published

23 hours ago

August 28, 2025

Editor

Two church leaders in the United States have been arrested in an alleged multi-million-dollar conspiracy after multiple Federal Bureau of Investigation raids across the country on Wednesday, including one in Hillsborough County’s exclusive Avila neighborhood.

In a statement issued via its website on Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice said Michelle Brannon, 56, was arrested at a mansion near Tampa, while David Taylor, 53, was arrested in North Carolina over allegations of multi-million dollar money laundering, forced labour and human trafficking.

According to the DOJ, Taylor and Brannon are the leaders of Kingdom of God Global Church, formerly known as Joshua Media Ministries International.

The Justice Department said Taylor referred to himself as “Apostle” and to Brannon as his Executive Director.

FBI officials said law enforcement arrested Brannon early Wednesday at 706 Guisando De Avila in Hillsborough County, which is owned by the church, according to property records.

Investigators arrested Taylor on Wednesday morning in North Carolina, while SWAT and FBI agents also raided a hotel owned by the church in Houston.

A 10-count indictment alleged that Taylor and Brannon ran call centres in Florida, Texas, Missouri, and Michigan to solicit donations to the church.

The pair convinced their victims to work at the call centres and work for Taylor as personal servants – referred to as “armour bearers” – for long hours without pay, according to the indictment.

Federal investigators said Taylor and Brannon “controlled every aspect of the daily living of their victims,” who slept at the call centre or in a “ministry” house and were not allowed to leave without permission.

The indictment also says the suspects forced the victims to transport women to Taylor and ensure that those women took Plan B emergency contraceptives.

The church received about $50 million in donations through its call centres dating back to 2014, according to the DOJ.

Taylor and Brannon are accused of using much of that money to buy luxury properties, luxury vehicles, and sporting equipment such as boats, jet skis, and ATVs.

Taylor and Brannon face charges of forced labour, conspiracy to commit forced labour, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Each alleged crime carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Michigan returned a 10-count indictment against two defendants for their alleged roles in a forced labour and money laundering conspiracy that victimised individuals in Michigan, Florida, Texas, and Missouri.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said the two defendants were arrested in North Carolina and Florida in a nationwide takedown of their forced labour organistion.

“Combating human trafficking is a top priority for the Department of Justice.

“We are committed to relentlessly pursuing and ending this scourge and obtaining justice for the victims,” he said.

Also speaking, U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. for the Eastern District of Michigan, said, “We will use every lawful tool against human traffickers and seek justice for their victims.

“A case like this is only possible through a concerted effort with our federal partners across the country and the non-governmental agencies who provide victim support. We thank them all.”

“The indictment of David Taylor and Michelle Brannon demonstrates the FBI’s steadfast efforts to protect the American people from human exploitation and financial crimes, including forced labour and money laundering.

“The alleged actions are deeply troubling. I want to thank the members of the FBI Detroit Field Office, with strong support from our federal and agency partners in the FBI Tampa Field Office, FBI Jacksonville Field Office, FBI St. Louis Field Office, FBI Charlotte Field Office, FBI Houston Field Office, and the Detroit IRS-CI Field Office, in addition to several local, county and state law enforcement partners, for their role in executing this multi-state operation.

“The FBI in Michigan will continue to investigate those who violate federal law and remain focused on ensuring the protection and safety of our nation,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Reuben Coleman of the FBI Detroit Field Office.

“Money laundering is tax evasion in progress, and in this case, the proceeds funded an alleged human trafficking ring and supported a luxury lifestyle under the guise of a religious ministry.

“IRS-CI stands committed to fighting human trafficking and labor exploitation, and pursuing those who hide their profits gained from the extreme victimization of the vulnerable,” said Special Agent in Charge Karen Wingerd of IRS Criminal Investigation, Detroit Field Office.

According to the DOJ, conspiracy to commit forced labour carries up to 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine up to $250,000, while forced labour carries up to 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine up to $250,000.

It noted that conspiracy to commit money laundering carries up to 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine up to $500,000 or twice the value of the properties involved in the money laundering transactions.

It was gathered that Brannon appeared in federal court in Tampa on Wednesday afternoon, but an attorney for Brannon wasn’t present.

A judge asked where her attorney was and whether she had representation.

Brannon told the judge that she had two private attorneys, out of St. Louis and Oklahoma, who were already working with them. However, she said she hadn’t heard from either of them.

The judge said the attorneys were not able to be reached through the phone numbers provided to federal prosecutors. It’s not clear if Brannon has legal representation at this point.

The judge continued Brannon’s hearing to Thursday afternoon. He instructed Brannon to find an attorney in the Tampa area in the meantime.