A former member of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) Agomoh Paul has said that miracles performed by the late Prophet TB Joshua were staged.
Mr Agomoh revealed this in an interview with BBC Africa Eye following a two-year probe published on Monday, January 8.
Agomoh, who was reportedly once regarded as Joshua’s number two in the church, said the miracles were all well thought-out.
“That guy (was) a genius,” he said, “Everything…(he did was) planned out.”
Agomoh said he was in charge of producing miracles.
He and other sources claimed that those “cured” had often been paid to perform or exaggerate their symptoms before their supposed healing took place. In some cases, they said, 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.
Agomoh said Joshua was out to control everything around him.
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“He wanted to control everybody, everything,” he said. “What he was really scrambling for (was) the control of people’s minds.”
Some former disciples of Joshua told BBC Africa Eye that they were made to work, without pay, for long hours each day – running all aspects of the megachurch. They said sleep deprivation was routine, with lights left on in the dormitories at night.
Agomoh left Joshua’s compound after 10 years.
The news organisation said SCOAN did not respond to request for comments, although it denied previous claims against Joshua.
“Making unfounded allegations against Prophet TB Joshua is not a new occurrence… None of the allegations was ever substantiated,” they wrote.
