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Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai
The Roman Catholic Cardinal of Nigeria formerly Archbishop of Lagos Olubunmi Okogie has said that the current chair of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Ayo Oritsejafor is making a mockery of the association by his closeness to President Goodluck Jonathan and his ruling crime syndicate, the PDP. Cardinal Okogie painted Ayo Oritsejafor as "fallen from grace to grass" and noted that he has also lost his grip and respect at the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria. The much respected Roman Catholic figure hinted that Mr. Oritsejafor unrighteous quest to remain in power and his unholy romance with politicians in Abuja have destroyed him and above all derailed the once respected Christian body from the lofty dreams of its founding fathers. His Eminence came out strong saying the Christian Association of Nigeria is now zero and has no leader. Said the Cardinal "look at how they are making mockery of themselves and making mockery of religion. Is that religion?" Cameroon Concord gathered that after the Cardinal left, those who took over the Christian Association of Nigeria started romancing with Obasanjo and today they are trying to smuggle 9.3 million dollars purportedly to procure arms.
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People who approached TB Joshua's church in the hopes of healing, have spoken out about not getting what they went for according to reports from Nigerian Newspapers.
Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper reported on several people who went to the church to seek healing, and ended up getting nothing.
The first case it focused on was Michael French, a Cameroonian suffering from acute Diabetes.
"I came to Nigeria because l was told l would be healed; l would say that l spent the worst one week of my life in Nigeria and l didn't receive what l came for," French said.
Awele described how she was put in a room with other cancer sufferers to await healing. After two of her fellow sufferers died, the church members caring for them told her they had been healed.
She didn't believe them because otherwise those sufferers would have picked up their luggage. Eventually she left, seeking proper medical treatment.
"I felt they were only waiting for us to die so that they could do away with our bodies. To me, I was convinced that the so- called miracle thing going on there is a big fraud," she said.
Unfortunately the medical treatment came too late and she died shortly after surgery.
Another church member told the paper of their late son. The child had suffered from a swollen penis for two years before seeking TB Joshua's help.
What they found was that when they went for healing, people were categorised into different sections.
After months of rigmarole, during which the son was in agony as the pastor provided healing water and laying on hands, he died.
"Since, then, I have decided not to go back to that man's church because there's nothing called miracle there. What you see are all stage-managed miracles," the former believer said.
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- Ngwa Bertrand
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The owner of the Synagogue Church of all Nations Prophet T.B.Joshua has made public a video showing the precise moment of the SCOAN guest house collapse in Ikotun, Lagos State. Cameroon Concord has learned that unseen security footage "from another angle" has been released on Youtube by the official channel of SCOAN Emmanuel TV. The new video appearing like a Nollywood movie, starts with an introduction, reminds viewers of the previous video and photo data. Interestingly, it then switches to a security camera located inside the Synagogue Church of all Nations premises. The camera is then made to capture the bottom of the building showing some unsuspecting people walking outside the doomed guest house. Then the collapse happened. The TB Joshua video repeats in for a couple of times, in real time and in slow motion.
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- Ngwa Bertrand
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Head of the Synagogue, Church of All Nations, Pastor T.B. Joshua should be readying his legal after two South African men announced their intentions to file lawsuits against him.
The two men, who both lost sisters in the collapse, are appealing for more families to come together in bringing a case against the preacher.
Thanduxolo Doro and Mpho Molebatsi waited at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo airport for days after the collapse for news of their sisters, who had been visiting SCOAN.
Both families had last heard from their relatives hours before the collapse, which happened at about 13:50 local time (12.50 GMT) on Friday 12 September.
“It is not that the building collapsed, rather what was done after the collapse – we didn’t get any news from the church,” Mr Doro, whose sister Vathiswa Madikiza died, told the BBC.
“When I contacted them they wouldn’t tell me anything. We saw reports that emergency workers were denied access initially, access that could have saved lives. The actions of the church after the incident are very telling,” he said.
In an open letter published in South Africa’s Star newspaper, Mr Doro called on more families to sue Mr Joshua.
“I need to do this for her. Even if I stand alone, I am determined to see that something is done,” he told the BBC.
“I understand that some families are afraid to take on someone who purports to be God’s messenger and I don’t blame them but I will do this.”
Mr Doro says he was informed by South African officials about his sister’s death this week, but has to wait for the results of DNA tests before her body can be repatriated for burial.
He told the BBC that he had spoken to two families who were eager to join him in suing Mr Joshua, but no concrete plans had been made.
He has not been in contact with Mr Molebatsi, whose sister Hlubi Molebatsi was also killed.
Mr Molebatsi says he has contacted his lawyers.
“I have spoken to other families but it has been difficult because this is a time of mourning. I would like to see families get something from the church as some of the people who died were breadwinners,” he told the BBC.
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- Ngwa Bertrand
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Prophet I.O Samuel a long standing ally and protégé of TB Joshua who is the overseer of a church in Abuja known as Shiloh Word Chapel has been accused of being behind the death of one of his committed members Samuel Chukwukadibia Ezenagu who fell ill and till his death did not received any medical attention on the recommendation of Prophet I.O.Samuel. The late Ezenagu Cameroon Concord gathered was a committed choir member of Shiloh Word Chapel Abuja, Nigeria and also a mouthpiece of the ministry who did not receive the healing he so desperately needed, neither was he taken to any hospital for medical treatment. Instead the man of God is reported to have moved the sick man out of his home to a hotel in Abuja where the hotel room became the medical ground from where he was administered different kinds of concoctions. A day after the death of the sick man, Prophet I.O.Samuel announced in church that the dead man died of HIV. Although the man did not clearly die of the said disease, healing of HIV/AIDS is one of the many diseases the outreach of the TB Joshua church and that of his protégé prides itself on. Abuja police have opened an investigation.
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- Ngwa Bertrand
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A Nigerian journalist has alleged that controversial Pastor TB Joshua tried to bribe journalists not to report on the death of people caused by the collapse of a building at his church in Lagos.
Nicholas Ebekwe has told SAfm (the SABC) that Joshua handed out envelopes, each containing 50 000 Naira or over R3300, to the journalists.
Ebekwe says he was surprised to see some of his colleagues take the money.
“What got me angry is we are talking about a tragedy, we are talking about a loss of over 90 lives. Now journalists do not have the conscious to report what is right.” He says the act of bribery was completely unethical.
However, South Africans who lost loved ones in the Nigerian church tragedy are still coming to terms with their loss.
Thingahangwi Ramatsia of Limpopo says his sister, Suzan and her husband George Tshivhase were among those who lost their lives.
Ramatsia has described how the deceased couple’s three children received the news.
“I drove straight to Polokwane where the rest of the family is. The kids are staying in Polokwane so that I can brief them on the development. The kids after receiving the news they had to cry for certain hour and 30 minutes after that things went back to normal because friends, colleagues and church members were starting to come and everything was back to normal within two hours.” SABC
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