Emmanuel Makandiwa, founder of United Family Church International, says a BBC documentary that claimed the late Nigerian televangelist Temitope Balogun (TB) Joshua faked his miracles and sexually abused women lacks credibility.
TB Joshua, who founded the Synagogue Church of All Nations (Scoan) in Lagos, Nigeria more than three decades ago, died in June 2021 at the age of 57.
The late missionary was widely known for his theatrical miracles where he would heal the sick through his alleged divine powers.
However, his miracles, which were broadcast live on Emmanuel TV, sparked controversy as critics accused him of using magic and rituals to conceal his works.
A recent BBC documentary also revealed how the missionary faked some miracles.
Makandiwa made a presentation on his YouTube channel last night titled: Lessons from TB Joshua The BBC documentary claimed there was “no evidence at all” that the TV preacher abused his alleged victims.
“There is no investigation in the documentary,” he said. “There is no evidence at all.
“For me, crying is not enough,” Makandiwa said, referring to the women who broke down during interviews with the BBC when they recounted their ordeal.
He also said that those who claimed to have witnessed TB Joshua performing the rituals were not convincing.
“You have a man who they say was a ritualist, he practices magic, he’s interested in the black arts, he’s a magician…they’ve said all kinds of things about the man including this documentary that came out recently,” Makandiwa said.
Then you ask yourself and say: Where is the truth in this?
“If a man is ritualistic, when you want to destroy him, when you want to attack him, discredit him, bring him down, there are things about a man that you should not deny, that you should not ignore.
“You cannot say that all the miracles were fake, fabricated, and all the prophecies were given to him physically and manually by his disciples.”
Makandiwa said TB Joshua would still be alive today if allegations that he was performing rituals and drinking people’s blood for a long life were true.
He asked: “If you are saying he did some of the things he did, why?”
“You have to admit that the power was there. So the ritual was for what? Maybe they were for a long life. If he drinks people’s blood then it must be said that he is still alive to justify why.”
“When you try to discredit him, you have to apply logic.”
TB Joshua was known for attracting other prophets as well as politicians and popular figures to his Nigerian church.
Makandiwa said TB Joshua once invited him to visit Nigeria, but he did not accept the offer.
“I had never met him. I never approached him, but I spoke to him on the phone,” he said.
“In the early stages of our ministry, we had some discussions over the phone and he had things he wanted to share with me.
“We didn’t talk more than six times, and part of the conversation was that he needed to visit me to come to Nigeria, and I said I couldn’t promise him that I was coming. I had to think about it. And then I didn’t visit.” Standard
