At Least 44 Dead In Nigeria Church Building Collapse

[ramonmercado]

At least 44 people were crushed to death when a guesthouse at a large church that's home to a famous Nigerian preacher collapsed in Lagos, a rescue agency official said Sunday.

In addition to those killed, there were "130 rescued from the rubble of the collapsed guesthouse at The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations," Ibrahim Farinloye, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, told CNN. "The toll may increase as rescue operation is still ongoing because many people are believed to be trapped under the rubble."

The two-story building is located in the expansive compound of The Synagogue, Church of All Nations, run by televangelist T.B. Joshua in the Ikotun area of Lagos, said Farinloye.

The building came down Friday afternoon amid expansion work on three additional floors. ...

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/14/world ... index.html

The preacher T.B. Joshua has form, four people died in a stampede at one of his services in Ghana last year.

Really sounds like a cult: The rescue operation was delayed by the refusal of members of the church to allow emergency workers from NEMA access to the collapsed building.
"The church members were very aggressive and tried attacking emergency responders," Farinloye said.

Some Bizarre claims: Joshua told Nigerian newspapers Sunday that a low-flying aircraft had been repeatedly circling the building and may have been responsible for the building collapse.

But: NEMA's Facebook page acknowledged the sabotage reports but also noted that two stories were being added to the building without fortifying the foundation of the initial structure. There is a "high probability" this is what caused the collapse, NEMA said, adding that an investigation will ultimately determine the cause.

 

[GNC]

Are churches more likely to have their roofs collapse than any other building? It does seem to happen quite often, giving rise to many "O the irony" observations. Maybe that's the reason they're more widely reported?

 

[Monstrosa]

It was a guesthouse which collapsed, not a church. The guest house was in the Church compound and belonged to it (the organisation).

 

[GNC]

The religious connection is what gets highlighted in reports like this, though.

 

[ramonmercado]

The number of dead from Nigeria's church building collapse four days ago has risen to 60, rescuers say, as they try to locate more survivors. Eight bodies were pulled from the rubble of the two-storey guesthouse at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos early on Tuesday.

One woman was pulled out alive, and walked away with only a broken wrist. Workers slowed down digging in the wreckage of the guesthouse after the woman was rescued.

"It's going to be slower because we believe we can recover more people alive," Ibrahim Farinloye, regional coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), told journalists.

Rescuers are now concentrating efforts on the area around the hostel's restaurant, where previous survivors were found, Mr Farinloye added ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29226566

 

[ramonmercado]

A profile of the conman.

TB Joshua: Nigeria's best known televangelist

The church building that collapsed in Lagos last week, killing dozens of people, was owned by one of Nigeria's best-known evangelists, TB Joshua. The BBC's Tomi Oladipo profiles the popular preacher who has claimed to perform miracles, including curing blindness and people with HIV. From a country littered with burgeoning churches, Temitope Balogun Joshua, or TB Joshua, as he's known, is one of the biggest exports of Nigerian charismatic Christianity.

Prophet Joshua was born to a poor family on 12 June 1963, claiming to have been in his mother's womb for 15 months. Later in life he claims to have seen a vision in which popular biblical figures commissioned him to preach and perform miracles. It was then that he started The Synagogue, Church of All Nations (SCOAN), with eight members.

Today, like other popular Nigerian preachers or "men of God", TB Joshua is wealthy, influential and highly revered for the office he holds. People come from around the world to the SCOAN headquarters in the Ikotun district in Lagos to seek healing and to witness prophecies ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29234245

 

[ramonmercado]

Preacher probe after disaster

A Nigerian televangelist whose exuberant followers across Africa and beyond believe he has powers of healing and prophesy is now under scrutiny after one of his buildings collapsed, killing at least 70 people.

Following the disaster, officials charged that church workers obstructed rescue efforts.

The exact circumstances of the collapse as well as the death toll remained unclear five days after the disaster at a multi-storey guesthouse and shopping area for TB Joshua’s Synagogue, Church of All Nations, on the outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.

South Africa, which said 67 of its nationals died, was struggling to glean information from the scene. Many had flown to the West African nation to experience the evangelical Mr Joshua’s preaching and faith healing.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/prea ... 87298.html

 

[ramonmercado]

TB Joshua Lagos church collapse: MDC's Greenwich Ndanga killed

A Zimbabwean opposition politician is among at least 80 people who died when a church hostel in the Nigerian city of Lagos collapsed a week ago. Greenwich Ndanga was the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) provincial chairman for Mashonaland West.

Most of the victims were South Africans who were staying in the multi-storey guesthouse belonging to the church of popular TV evangelist TB Joshua. The authorities say it it had more floors than its foundation could hold. More than 130 people survived, including one South African woman who was pulled from the rubble on Monday - three days after the building collapsed.

Mr Ndanga's death was confirmed by his family and party officials on Thursday. ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29276933

 

[ramonmercado]

TB Joshua church collapse: Lagos death toll rises

The number of deaths in Nigeria's church hostel collapse has risen to 115, including 84 South Africans, a South African minister has said. The worshippers were attending a gathering by Nigerian TV evangelist TB Joshua when a building collapsed in Lagos 10 days ago.

Meanwhile, 25 survivors have returned to South Africa, where they will receive further medical care.

At least seven of the dead are Nigerian, rescue workers there have said.

The nationalities of the other victims is not clear, except for an official with Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change, whose death was announced last week. ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-2922

 

[ramonmercado]

Two South Africans who lost relatives when a church hostel in Lagos collapsed have told the BBC they intend to sue Nigerian evangelist TB Joshua. 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.

At least 115 people, including 84 South Africans, died when the multi-storey building fell down earlier this month. The authorities say it had more floors than its foundation could hold. ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29364186

 

[ramonmercado]

TB Joshua's wife has now "inherited" leadership of the "church". Hopefully she'll keep an eye on building standards and not give construction jobs to her relatives.

Evelyn Joshua has become the head of one of Africa's most influential evangelical churches, but the 52-year-old is faced with the challenge of maintaining her late husband's legacy.

TB Joshua's unexpected death in June at the age of 57 unleashed a succession battle that took months to resolve. But the giant gates at his Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in Nigeria's biggest city have swung open again to welcome worshippers for the first time in five months.

He was famous for his prophecies and teachings, attracting tens of thousands from across the world to Lagos, including top politicians from Africa and Latin America.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59295624

 

[maximus otter]

Hopefully she'll keep an eye on building standards and not give construction jobs to her relatives.

*Reads above. Notes location of church. Purses lips, raises eyebrows, shakes head ruefully.*

maximus otter

 

[ramonmercado]

*Reads above. Notes location of church. Purses lips, raises eyebrows, shakes head ruefully.*

maximus otter

To be fair though I believe that Fred West was a subcontractor on the building that collapsed.

 

[maximus otter]

To be fair though I believe that Fred West was a subcontractor on the building that collapsed.

He was fitted up! He bought that topsoil from Lockerbie!

maximus otter

 

[ramonmercado]

Joshua's perfidy revealed.

TB Joshua, a charismatic Nigerian leader of one of the world's biggest evangelical churches, secretly committed sexual crimes on a mass scale, a BBC investigation spanning three continents has found. Testimony from dozens of survivors suggests Joshua was abusing and raping young women from around the world several times a week for nearly 20 years. ...

The church looms like a gothic temple over the Ikotun neighbourhood in Lagos, Africa's largest city. Joshua designed all 12 storeys of the compound adjoining it, where he lived alongside many of his followers. He oversaw the construction of the multiple staircases to his bedroom. The three doors to it, in and out. The hidden prayer room full of tiny mirrors. The "clinic" downstairs.

We have interviewed many people who lived inside. They paint a picture of a concrete labyrinth; a nightmarish world where reality slipped away and horrors unfolded.

Numerous women say they were sexually assaulted by Joshua, with a number claiming they were repeatedly raped behind closed doors. Some say they were forced to have abortions after becoming pregnant. ...

Former followers have previously tried to speak out about abuse, but say they have been silenced or discredited by Scoan, and two say they were physically assaulted. When the BBC's Africa Eye was filming outside the church, a security guard shot above the heads of the crew after they refused to hand over their material.

Many of our interviewees have waived their legal right to anonymity, in most cases asking just their surnames be omitted. Others asked that their identities remain hidden for fear of reprisals. ...

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Disciples: The Cult of TB Joshua

A shocking journey into a maze of manipulation and terrifying abuse perpetrated by one of the most powerful religious figures of the 21st Century

Watch now on BBC iPlayer (UK Only) or on the BBC Africa YouTube channel
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

World of Secrets - The Disciples

A nine-episode season - a shocking journey into a maze of manipulation and terrifying abuse

Listen now on BBC Sounds
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-67861976

 

[ramonmercado]

Joshua's conjuring tricks.

The BBC unmasks, for the first time, how the late Nigerian televangelist TB Joshua faked the miracles that drew millions of people to his church.

The preacher, who is accused of widespread abuse and torture spanning almost 20 years, founded his Synagogue Church of All Nations (Scoan) in Lagos more than three decades ago. His meteoric rise to fame was closely tied to his self-professed divine powers and his supposed ability to heal the sick.

The theatrical healings - showing the physically disabled walking and on one occasion purporting to resurrect a dead person - were filmed. Along with testimonies of those he claimed to have cured, they were then sent on VHS tapes to churches across the world.

In 2004, Nigeria's broadcast regulator banned stations from airing the supposed miracles of pastors on live terrestrial TV, prompting Joshua to launch Emmanuel TV on satellite and then online. His global television and social media empire became one of the most successful Christian networks in the world. His purported miracles were broadcast to millions across Europe, the Americas, South-East Asia and Africa. His YouTube channel had hundreds of millions of views. ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67944614