Pastor Evelyn Joshua, wife of the late founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) Prophet TB Joshua, has declared that her husband’s multi-million dollar religious organisation is not a cult.
The 55-year-old made the statement at a programme held at the church’s branch in Akure, Ondo State on Wednesday, January 10, a day after the BBC released a three-episode documentary in which former members of the church made damaging allegations against her husband.
Titled “DISCIPLES: The Cult of TB Joshua,” the BBC documentary features former top-ranking members of Joshua’s ministry who claimed to have witnessed or experienced physical, sexual and psychological abuse from their former religious father.
The BBC said its findings over a two-year investigation revealed dozens of eyewitness accounts of physical violence or torture carried out by Joshua, including instances of child abuse and people being whipped and chained.
Some of the women who spoke in the documentary said they were sexually assaulted by Joshua, with a number claiming they were repeatedly raped for years inside the church compound and forced to abort pregnancies. One woman said she had five terminations.
The disciples also accused Joshua who died on June 5, 2021 of fake “miracle healings”, which were broadcast to millions of people around the world.
Speaking the day after the documentary was released, Evelyn Joshua told her audience in Akure that “The Synagogue, Church of All Nations is still existing, for the foundation of this church is not of man but of God.”
The mother of three who became leader of the megachurch after her husband’s death added that “We are a church, not a cult, for we preach Jesus Christ.”
