Crisis Tears Synagogue Church Apart as TB Joshua’s Family, Disciples Clash, Trustee Alleges Threat to Life
- Leadership/succession crisis and alleged financial fraud have turned the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) into a battleground
- The crisis erupted shortly after the death of the church's founder, Prophet TB Joshua, especially as the wife moved to take over
- While the family is accusing some disciples of financial fraud, the disciples claimed there are threats to their lives and they have had to go into hiding
Ikotun, Lagos - Joseph David, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), has raised the alarm over alleged threats to his life and those of other leaders of the ministry over a leadership crisis.
Months after the death of Prophet TB Joshua, the church's founder, there has been an unabated crisis over the running of the church.
Source: Getty Images
The Punch reported that David, who has gone into hiding with other disciples of the late founder of the church, claimed that the family of the founder was using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to hunt them.
He alleged that the wife of the founder, Evelyn Joshua, was making spirited attempts to consolidate power around her, adding that influential followers of TB Joshua had been chased away, including foreigners.
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Evelyn Joshua not active in church's administration
David claimed that Mrs Evelyn was wife was never active in the administration of the church when her husband was alive, adding that she only functioned ceremoniously.
He added that Prophet TB Joshua had said before he died that the church was not a family thing.
According to him, the late prophet had removed her wife from being a trustee of the church before his death.
David said after TB Joshua’s death, the church had two trustees left, the cleric’s daughter, Promise Joshua, and himself.
He noted that trouble started during a meeting to fill the space left by the late cleric, who was the third trustee of the church.
He said he kicked against the move to make the widow a trustee member to avoid being easily overrun and removed by the family members.
David said a man was later asked to mediate between the disciples and the family, adding that the intervention did not work out.
He said his group later decided to concede to the family and allow TB Joshua’s wife to take over the running of the church.
The cleric said the mediator told him and other disciples that to "avoid the disaster that was coming", all of them "must come together and sign an undertaking to declare Mrs Evelyn Joshua as the new GO of the church" and "sign an undertaking to be of good behaviour."
David added that most of the prophets, both Nigerian and foreign, in the church were accused of theft, fraud and money laundering.
He added that the late founder's daughter also wrote to the Nigeria Immigration Service to demand that the residency status of the foreigners be reviewed because their services were no longer needed.
According to him, the EFCC had since launched a search for him and others, saying their lives were under threat.
It was gathered that aside from the alleged stealing and money laundering charges, the EFCC was also looking into allegations of misappropriation of the burial funds of TB Joshua, in which the disciples were implicated.
TB Joshua’s daughter, Promise, reacts
TB Joshua’s daughter, Promise, said the allegations against the family were unfounded.
She added that David and others were only trying to give the church a bad name because their atrocities were exposed.
Speaking on the case with the EFCC, Promise explained that the family saw CCTV footage of some persons moving money from the church, claiming that some of the drivers involved in the act had made confessional statements indicting the disciples.
She also denied that the family was chasing away those who worked with her father. She said they were only asked to leave pending when the church would resume.
Her words:
“These people talking are those I believe are guilty; all the other ones went to the EFCC and returned after they were interviewed.
"All they had to do was to explain what happened because there is video evidence. I don’t know why they are running; if you are not guilty, go and explain yourself.”
A spokesperson for the EFCC, Wilson Uwajaren, reportedly confirmed that the case was being handled by the Lagos office of the agency.
A report by The Nation also stated that a letter by the EFCC’s Lagos state zonal commander, Ahmed Ghali, said 20 TB Joshua’s disciples are being investigated for allegedly syphoning funds and breaking the church’s vault.
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Huge cases of fraud discovered in Synagogue after TB Joshua’s death - Church lawyer
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the head of the SCOAN's legal department, James Akhigbe, said huge cases of financial misappropriation were discovered after the demise of the founder of SCOAN, TB Joshua.
Akhigbe said that was why some disciples and workers of the church were being probed.
He also said that the affected workers are not being victimised as being reported in the media.
Source: Legit.ng
