A member of the board of trustees of the Synagogue Church of All Nations Joseph David has alleged his life and those of other leaders of the church are under threat.
Currently in hiding with other disciples of the church’s late founder Prophet TB Joshua, Mr David said Joshua’s family was using law enforcement officers to haunt them.
David alleged Joshua’s widow Evelyn had chased away all the influential followers of her husband including foreigners.
“Before the prophet passed on, he was interviewed by a newspaper, where he answered the question of succession. He said the church is not a family thing, and that was why his wife was not always seen with him.
“Around the period he granted the interview, he had removed her from being a trustee of the church. But she did not know she had been removed until he died,” he told PUNCH.
David further said that he voiced his disapproval when it was suggested that Joshua’s first daughter or wife should be made the third trustee after the clergyman died.
At Joshua’s death, David and Joshua’s second daughter Promise were the two trustees left.
When Joshua died, David said Evelyn began investigating the bank accounts of people closest to Joshua.
“For the 27 years that I was in that ministry, she never handled any matter of administration. But she started making people turn their backs on the disciples, saying we are thieves and robbers. As a result, church workers started refusing instructions,” he said.
David added that after Evelyn got a court order making her a trustee of the church she sacked some of the disciples at the church’s Prayer Mountain with letters of investigation from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
He also said Joshua’s family wrote to the Nigeria Immigration Service to demand that the residency status of the foreigners be reviewed because their services were no longer needed.
Responding, Joshua’s daughter, Promise, said the allegations against the family were unfounded.
The 24-year-old 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.
Promise 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.
She said, “Everything that happened here was recorded and at the right time, depending on how everything goes, it will be put out for the public to see.
“The constitution of the church was followed to the latter and that was how my mum became a trustee. The day it happened, concerned members of the church appealed to the Corporate Affairs Commission and everything was done legally.”
Asked why the foreigners were reported to the authorities, Promise said since the funeral of the late prophet, there had not been any activity in the church so the foreigners were not needed.
