Nigeria’s Academia in the Diaspora have accused the General Overseer of Synagogue, Church of All Nations (SCOAN) Mr. Temitope Balogun Joshua, of suppressing evidence surrounding the collapse of the guest-house in the church. They have also called on security agencies to arrest Joshua and properly investigate the matter.
The call was contained in a statement jointly signed by Olufemi Taiwo of the Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; Ebenezer Obadare of the University of Kansas; Lawrence Akin Adesokan of the Indiana University, Bloomington; Wale Adebanwi of University of California, and Tejumola Olaniyan of University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, all in the United States of America.
The scholars noted that it was important that the police and other investigative agencies be given the necessary backing (both financial and moral) in order to carry out their duties, adding that Joshua was a person of interest, “not for his callousness, but for his cynical and persistent attempts to obliterate the truth and pervert the course of justice.”
“The police should arrest him. At a minimum, he should be declared a person of interest regarding a crime scene and be invited for a ‘chat’”, they noted.
The statement reads further: “Mr. Joshua has done everything humanly possible to cover up the truth about this tragedy. First, in the first three days after the incident, he illegally barred officials of the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) from accessing the site and rescuing survivors. Second, while this illegal interdiction was in effect, Mr. Joshua attempted to dictate the narrative and deflect possible culpability by blaming the incident on a mysterious ‘small plane’ which had purportedly hovered above his church complex moments before the collapse.
“Claiming that he and not his church building was the target of the alleged attack, he even released an ‘exclusive’ footage of the ‘strange’ plane. Third, as public anger mounted in South Africa, Mr. Joshua declared the dead ‘martyrs of faith’ and sought to change the subject by promising to ‘take his teachings’ to the country every month for the foreseeable future.
“Fourth, an audio recording has just emerged of Mr. Joshua paying a gathering of journalists N50, 000 each in exchange for suppressing the truth and privileging his version of events. The recording, whose authenticity has not been challenged, was released by Mr. Nicholas Ibekwe, a Premium Times correspondent who was present at the meeting.”
The academia added that Joshua, who recognises that the version of events he sought to promote was implausible, deployed an attempt to manipulate public opinion by allegedly inducing journalists.
The statement also condemned the separate visits of President Goodluck Jonathan and Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola to the scene of collapse, noting that the solidarity visits threw police investigation into jeopardy.
Meanwhile, a senior pastor at Bornfree City International, Pastor Philip Osung yesterday said he saw mass death before the house came down killing hundred and fifteen people.
In the statement made available to THISDAY, the man of God who gave the prophecy on Sunday, August 31, 2014 at his church Bornfree City International Church, Akesan Junction, Lasu/Isheri Expressway, Igando, said “I see mass death at Ikotun at the place of the man called T.B. Joshua. This prophecy attracted lots of criticisms as many people said it can’t be true and cannot happen since the man in question (T.B. Joshua) is a long time prophet.”
“Barely two weeks later, the prophecy came to manifestation as the six storey guest house in Pastor T.B. Joshua’s church collapsed on the September 12, 2014 killing people with 131 persons injured. This is a clear indication the prophesy of God can never fail.
According to the statement, “the man of God, Pastor Philip Osung, repeated again in his prophesy on Sunday 14 and 21 of September respectively that what God showed him concerning the collapsed building was not for human sacrifice and not a liquid bomb either,” as statement said the Emmanuel TV claimed.
On Sunday, September 21, 2014, the statement again disclosed that the Man of God (Pastor Philip Osung) prophesied that he saw bomb in Uyo, AkwaIbom State but that he has prayed against it. On Monday September 22, 2014 bomb was found in University of Uyo.
“On Sunday, September 21, 2014, the Man of God said, ‘I see a Nollywood actor, fair and handsome with the name Nonso, giving his life to Christ. And above all, I heard a voice that spoke to me that not many days from now he will be preaching the gospel,” the statement disclosed.
The statement added “that all these are clear indication that our God is awesome and full of wonders, as many prophesies proceed out of the Man of God daily with clear undeniable proofs. People throng the church daily seeking a voice from God concerning their situations. Not just a voice but with total solution.
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