The death of Prophet TB Joshua, founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), has seen business centres around the church suffer.
Hotels, eateries, and convenient stores have recorded low patronage since the death of Joshua on June 5, 2021. The teeming number of foreigners who used to flock SCOAN on spiritual tourism when Joshua was alive has dropped drastically.
It was gathered that the worst affected are hotels and short-stay apartments close to the church.
Hoteliers are beginning to put up their property for sale while some of them have hired architects and estate surveyors to assess their property for modification and conversion to residential apartments, The Guardian reports.
The popular Victoria Continental Hotel has been sold while Hymax Grace Hotel and Suites, Glorious Hotel and Suites have retrenched their staff.
Joshua’s widow Evelyn took over leadership of the church after months of power tussle with Joshua’s most trusted men.
A former employee of Hymax Grace Hotel Emmanuel Ogbebor told the newspaper that he was sacked because the hotel could no longer pay him.
“I was a security man at Hymax Grace Hotel before they sacked me because they couldn’t pay my salary anymore.
“People were no longer lodging in the hotel, that was why they had to sack us. The main customers that lodged there were people from the church with over 100 rooms,” he said.
Mr Ogbebor, who now works as a security guard for another nearby hotel Glorious Hotel and Suites, said there are over 200 rooms in the building but the hotel has not had up to 100 lodgers within the last 10 months.
Confirming the words of Ogbebo, an estate agent in the area Akeem Olasiga said, “Victoria Continental Hotel and Suites just sold their building because no customer was coming. De Lodge will soon sell their hotel and Glorious Hotel.”
