The website of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), the megachurch founded by the late Nigerian preacher Temitope Balogun (TB) Joshua, has been following the BBC’s release of a damning documentary about his alleged sexual crimes and torture.
The documentary, titled “Disciples: The Cult of TB Joshua”, was aired on BBC Africa Eye on 8 January 2024.
It featured dozens of former members and workers of SCOAN, who accused Joshua of raping and abusing them, forcing them to have abortions, and faking his “miracle healings”.
The BBC also reported that Joshua had covered up his role in the collapse of a building at his church in 2014, which killed at least 116 people, mostly South Africans.
The documentary has sparked outrage and condemnation from many Nigerians and Africans, who have called for justice and accountability for the victims of Joshua’s alleged atrocities.
However a visit to SCOAN’s website, www.scoan.org, shows the message “This page isn’t working. www.scoan.org took too long to respond. HTTP ERROR 504. Reload.”
The Independent Ghana has no knowledge of how whether the website was accessible before the exposé, and it is unclear whether the current downtime is related to the recent allegations against the founder of the church.
However, many observers have found the development intriguing, given the recent events surrounding the ministry.
The church’s social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, are however still active.
TB Joshua, who died in June 2021 at the age of 57, was one of Africa’s most influential and controversial evangelists, with millions of followers across the continent and beyond. He was the founder of SCOAN, a Christian megachurch that runs the Emmanuel TV television station from Lagos, Nigeria.