Survivors of Christian cult reveal harrowing sexual and bodily abuse
The Nigerian evangelical church attended by Constance Marten as a teen oversaw a harrowing tradition of violence and sexual abuse by one of many world’s most well-known preachers, survivors have claimed.
Temitope Balogun Joshua, generally known as TB Joshua, based an evangelical Christian church known as the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in 1987, and shortly started recruiting followers throughout Africa, Europe and all over the world.
The church appeared to carry out miracles – therapeutic most cancers, ridding individuals of AIDs, exorcising ‘demons’ – whereas recruiting 1000’s of younger individuals, together with many who have been British, to journey to its headquarters and turn out to be Joshua’s ‘disciples’.
British aristocrat Constance Marten was amongst lots of of ladies to remain on the church for months and even years at a time.
But behind closed doorways Joshua used his worldwide fame to abuse, sexually assault and rape younger ladies whom he indoctrinated into his ‘cult’, survivors say.
Speaking out about their ordeal for the primary time, greater than a dozen have informed the BBC‘s The Disciples documentary how they have been systematically damaged down and indoctrinated by a cult greater than 3,000 miles away from dwelling.
Temitope Balogun Joshua, generally known as TB Joshua, based an evangelical Christian church known as the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in 1987
Rae realised she was homosexual on the age of 12, hiding it from her household out of concern and disgrace.
Growing up in a Christian household, Rae mentioned she tried to withstand her sexuality: ‘I simply pushed it down, I used to be terrified. I believed I am unable to have god if I’m homosexual and I am unable to be homosexual as a result of it is incorrect. So I began trying to find an answer to that.’
As a teen, it was then that Rae first noticed a video of TB Joshua supposedly performing magical ‘healings’ on a VHS tape at her church.
‘Nothing was ever the identical once more,’ she mentioned. ‘What I noticed wasn’t one thing that you may neglect. I believed possibly that is the reply I’ve been on the lookout for.’
Across the nation Anneka, from Derbyshire, stumbled throughout related VHS tapes a number of years after shedding her mom to breast most cancers on the age of ten. She additionally heralded from a spiritual background.
She informed the documentary: ‘Seeing my mum undergo that ache I had a deep rooted concern inside me [from] watching my mum die of that illness.
‘We consider in miracles, we consider in healings however I might ask myself the place are these miracles?’
After watching tapes by which TB Joshua appeared to remedy individuals with most cancers, Anneka knew she needed to meet him. In actuality the church is accused of drastically exaggerating sick individuals’s diseases, together with falsely claiming individuals had most cancers, in order that they might later be ‘cured’ of the illness they by no means had within the first place.
‘Here was someplace the place breast most cancers wasn’t a loss of life sentence,’ Anneka mentioned. ‘Here was hope.’
TB Joshua’s compound was normally guarded by gunmen and entry was strictly managed (pictured surrounded by mourners after his loss of life in 2021)
Rae, now 43, was drawn into SCOAN after struggling together with her sexuality as a teen
The ‘prophet’ TB Joshua is accused of sexually abusing lots of of ladies in a BBC documentary
Anneka travelled to Nigeria after watching movies of TB Joshua’s ‘healings’ from most cancers
Like many British ladies, Rae and Anneka each travelled to Lagos, Nigeria to fulfill TB Joshua and go to his church within the hope of experiencing the facility of God. Rae, aged 20, was determined for a ‘remedy’ for her sexuality when she made the journey in 2001 – whereas Anneka, simply 17, was wanting to see how individuals like her mom have been being saved.
Both describe being informed by ‘prophet’ TB Joshua and his associates on arrival that they have been ‘meant to be’ in Nigeria and that it was ‘what God needed’. Neither would return dwelling for years.
Like the opposite survivors to talk out, Anneka recalled a gruelling routine which noticed them stored within the compound on a regular basis, with armed guards patrolling the world.
The younger ladies lived in a big dormitory which slept as much as 100 individuals on bunk beds with no privateness. At the start, they have been inspired to be fully bare when inside their sleeping quarters, regardless of the presence of safety cameras in all places.
The SCOAN survivors all describe an analogous expertise of life upon turning into ‘disciples’.
Once welcomed into the church, the younger ladies have been systematically damaged down by violence, abuse and continual exhaustion, whereas being indoctrinated into worshipping TB Joshua as talking the phrase of God.
None of the disciples, as they have been known as, have been typically allowed not more than two to a few hours of sleep an evening.
Joshua made younger ‘disciples’ name him ‘Daddy’, cellphone him to say goodnight earlier than they went to sleep and even insisted on handing out sleep passes – with anybody sleeping with out permission being punished.
‘Sleep was seen as the best enemy to the work of God you needed to pray in opposition to it,’ Brit Chloe, who first met Joshua when she was simply 15, mentioned.
‘There have been instances the place I fell asleep standing up.’
Rae, now 43, was drawn into SCOAN after struggling together with her sexuality as a teen
Rae, who got here from a spiritual household, realised she was homosexual at round 12, however hid it from everybody round her
Rae (left) now lives together with her companion Liz in Devon after returning to the UK in 2013
All of the survivors described how not getting sufficient sleep for years on finish left them functioning like ‘robots’ and ‘zombies’.
‘Before you understand it your mind would not assume prefer it used to assume,’ Rae mentioned.
They have been continually working for Joshua and the church with out ever being paid: from bodily constructing SCOAN’s premises to getting ready for church providers, welcoming friends and filming movies to be streamed on Joshua’s tv service.
While contained in the Lagos compound, none of them had entry to a calendar or perhaps a watch, that means they by no means knew what day or time it was.
The website was guarded by armed males carrying weapons, with disciples not allowed to depart with out Joshua’s categorical permission. The home windows have been coated in blackout paint and barbed wire surrounded the buildings.
The ladies described Joshua as hot-tempered, and reported he would regularly slap them and beat his followers – together with his personal daughter. Rae mentioned Joshua’s followers have been informed it was ‘an honour’ to be slapped by him.
Rae travelled to Nigeria for per week when she was 20, after which stayed for 12 years
Rae was first launched to Joshua through video tapes as a teen after becoming a member of an evangelical church
They have been actively inspired to report supposed misdemeanors by different members of the church and their diets, routines and garments have been straight managed by Joshua.
‘There was no protected place, no good friend,’ Rae mentioned. ‘He made everyone your enemy and also you everyone else’s enemy.’
Facing continual exhaustion, with no entry to social media, the web or information of the surface world, the survivors mentioned it took a matter of weeks for them to turn out to be absolutely indoctrinated by the cult.
Joshua maintained his management over the ladies he recruited by imposing extreme punishment on those that stepped out of line or questioned the more and more abusive behaviours he uncovered them to – all whereas claiming to talk the phrase of God.
At one level, Rae spent two years in social ‘isolation’ whereas residing within the Lagos compound. Unable to depart, she was banned from working, from group actions and no-one was allowed to a lot as converse to her – or they might face the identical punishment.
The ladies described Joshua as hot-tempered, and reported he would regularly slap them and beat his followers – together with his personal daughter
Joshua has additionally been accused of faking ‘miracles’ by falsely claiming individuals had most cancers
The extent of the management Joshua held over his followers allowed him to secretly sexually abuse ‘lots of’ of ladies, survivors have claimed.
They informed the BBC the pastor would invite a younger lady as much as his personal quarters virtually each night, and that this went on for 20 years.
Rae described her personal expertise after she was summoned as much as his room underneath the guise of praying collectively, saying he locked the doorways behind her and turned down the lights.
She informed the documentary: ‘He mentioned: “Can you take your pyjama bottoms off”.
‘You have been so knackered on a regular basis. I used to be identical to a robotic, like a parrot. [I said] ‘Yes sir, sure sir’, like a fr***ing robotic.’
Rae mentioned Joshua then lay down on prime of her: ‘He caught his tongue in my ear. I completely froze, I went into full panic.
‘He was grinding and sticking his tongue in my ear and inside 5 minutes he is masturbated on me mainly. Then he will get up and says: ‘Ok you’ll be able to go’.’
Joshua died in June 2021, months after the BBC started investigating his church
Anneka additionally accused Joshua of repeated sexual abuse. She described herself as ‘brainwashed’ by him and mentioned she had ‘by no means skilled concern prefer it’.
‘I did not realise what was taking place to me. He would wrap his leg across the again of my legs and decrease me like a plank to the ground.
‘It turned so robotic I disconnected from my physique, I simply turned like a puppet. It was essentially the most horrendous and terrifying expertise I’ve ever been by way of.’
She added she frequently noticed ‘younger ladies’ leaving his room: ‘My thoughts would typically go, I’m wondering in the event that they’re having the kind of time I’ve with [Joshua].’
Six of the ladies featured within the documentary allege they have been sexually abused, with a number of accusing Joshua of repeatedly raping them for years.
The church can also be accused of finishing up dozens of abortions in secret on ladies who have been allegedly raped by the preacher.
Both Anneka and Rae ultimately returned to the UK after lastly realising Joshua was not the miracle employee he claimed to be.
‘It was like I had a blindfold on, after which all of the sudden I realised he isn’t a holy man,’ Anneka mentioned.
Both are campaigning for justice for different survivors and wish to shield others from being drawn in by the organisation.
After reconnecting with different British ladies who had been concerned within the church, each ladies found they weren’t the one ones who mentioned that they had been sexually abused.
Anneka even went to the police, however there was little that could possibly be achieved as a result of Joshua remained in Nigeria. A report was filed to Interpol, however it’s not believed Joshua was ever questioned earlier than his loss of life.
Joshua died in June 2021, months after the BBC started investigating SCOAN. The church continues to function and is now run by his widow.
SCOAN has been contacted for remark.
Who was TB Joshua? Inside the lifetime of ‘cult’ chief accused of sexually abusing ‘lots of’ of younger ladies – and did he actually spend 15 months in his mom’s womb?
TB Joshua, pictured in Lagos in 2014
Temitope Balogun Joshua was worshipped by tens of millions as a Christian preacher who claimed to carry out numerous miraculous healings and talking with the phrase of God.
Upon his loss of life on June 5, 2021 the church he based in 1987, the Synagogue Church Of All Nations (SCOAN), had lots of of tens of millions of followers and had made him probably essentially the most recognisable Christian chief in Africa.
Joshua discovered worldwide fame and recruited 1000’s of individuals from the world over, together with the UK and different European nations.
But he has now been accused of operating a ‘cult’ and perpetrating bodily and sexual abuse in opposition to ‘lots of’ of his followers in a brand new BBC documentary, The Disciples.
From claims he spent 15 months in his mom’s womb to being warmly welcomed by worldwide leaders, MailOnline reveals the preacher’s rise to revered non secular chief.
TB Joshua was born into poverty on June 12, 1963 within the village of Arigidi in Ondo State, south-west Nigeria.
He obtained little formal schooling, failing to complete secondary college, and moved to Lagos as a younger man, initially discovering work on a farm.
He is believed to have labored till founding SCOAN in his mid-20s, with early movies displaying him and a few dozen followers gathered underneath a bamboo marquee within the late Eighties.
Precious little is thought about his formative years that may be verified – however Joshua has repeatedly made wild claims about his origins that are nonetheless repeated as details by his church at this time.
SCOAN claims Joshua spent 15 months in his mom’s womb earlier than his delivery, and that he turned a Christian as an unborn child throughout this time.
There aren’t any information to substantiate any declare that Joshua had something however a standard growth interval and delivery.
He attended St. Stephen Anglican Primary School between 1971 and 1977, earlier than dropping out in the course of the first 12 months of secondary college to earn a residing.
His academics are mentioned to have known as him a ‘little pastor’ due to his non secular upbringing and nice love of the Bible.
He married his spouse Evelyn in 1990, and the couple had three youngsters. Joshua additionally had a fourth youngster, who he has beforehand been accused of mistreating attributable to her not being born of his marriage.
By the Nineteen Nineties, TB Joshua was constructing SCOAN into a world motion. He first started recruiting western ‘disciples’ within the early 2000s.
At its peak, tens of 1000’s of individuals would journey to Lagos to attend every of TB Joshua’s providers.
He loved the patronage and visits of the Nigerian President, in addition to former Presidents of Ghana and Malawi, John Atta Mills and Joyce Banda.
Joshua was considered price tens of millions of kilos by the point of his loss of life, with donations to the church pouring in from all around the world.
But his organisation has been plagued in scandal for years, together with simply months earlier than his demise when his common streaming service, Emmanuel TV, was suspended from YouTube over alleged homophobia by Joshua.
The pastor had posted movies by which he claimed to ‘remedy’ individuals of their homosexuality – together with by beatings.
TB Joshua had beforehand been criticised for claiming to have the ability to remedy deadly illnesses akin to most cancers, HIV and AIDs. Insiders say such miraculous healings are literally the results of minor well being situations being exaggerated and labelled as way more critical points.
During the Ebola outbreak, he made headlines once more after sending 4,000 bottles of ‘blessed’ water to individuals with the illness, claiming it may remedy them.
It got here lower than a 12 months after 4 individuals died in a stampede in Ghana as individuals rushed to get their arms on his alleged ‘therapeutic water’, which was being handed out at an occasion.
But maybe essentially the most controversial incident occurred in September 2014, when a guesthouse inside the compound collapsed into rubble, killing at the least 116 individuals.
The constructing housed round 300 international vacationers, a lot of whom have been from South Africa, who had paid massive sums of cash to go to the church.
Two days later, TB Joshua went forward along with his Sunday service virtually as if nothing had occurred. It is probably going among the victims have been nonetheless alive, trapped underneath the rubble on the time.
Incredibly, he claimed {that a} hostile get together had used an ‘infrasonic’ weapon in opposition to the guesthouse, launched from a low-flying aircraft. In the weeks that adopted he mentioned the ‘assault’ was an assassination try in opposition to him.
An intensive investigation concluded in 2015 that the constructing truly collapsed after being overbuilt – further flooring had been added with out reinforcements being made to its foundations.
There was no assault, and SCOAN have been discovered to be criminally negligent. No-one has ever been prosecuted over the tragedy.
Joshua died on June 5, 2021, of unconfirmed causes – though it was beforehand reported that he had suffered a stroke shortly earlier than his loss of life. He was 57.
Some of his followers later claimed he had foreseen his personal loss of life. HIs spouse, Evelyn Joshua, now runs SCOAN.
