The founder of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) and a popular gospel preacher, Temitope Balogun Joshua, is Dead, DAILY GIST has gathered.
Report says he died in Lagos on Saturday evening after concluding a programme at his church.
Mr Joshua who before his death was 57year old reportedly gave up the ghost on the way to a hospital
Joshua had earlier in the day participated in a church programme before his shocking death was announced.
DAILY GIST however could not immediately ascertain the actual cause of his death but it was gathered that his remains had been deposited at the morgue and an autopsy would be performed forthwith.
The purported death of Prophet Joshua comes just a few days after he announced that he would not be celebrating his 58th birthday publicly.
Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Aviation Minister, and Joshua’s friend confirmed his death on Sunday morning in a statement.
In his words, FFK said; The passing of my brother TB Joshua saddens me deeply. At 3.00am this morning I was told by one of his daughters that this was fake news & I tweeted as much.
Sadly I was misled. 5 minutes ago the same person called me & confirmed the story. @GazetteNGR was right & I am in pain” he added
Also in a statement forwarded to DAILY GIST on Sunday morning confirmed that T.B. Joshua died on Saturday.
His death reportedly occurred when the cleric left ‘the mountain’ to minister to the people, which was televised live on Saturday.
The statement titled, “PROPHET TB JOSHUA – JUNE 12th 1963 to JUNE 5th 2021” said the televangelist died after meeting with his church’s TV partners.
The statement reads:
“Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” – Amos 3:7
On Saturday 5th June 2021, Prophet TB Joshua spoke during the Emmanuel TV Partners Meeting: “Time for everything – time to come here for prayer and time to return home after the service.”
God has taken His servant Prophet TB Joshua home – as it should be by divine will. His last moments on earth were spent in the service of God. This is what he was born for, lived for and died for.
As Prophet TB Joshua says, “The greatest way to use life is to spend it on something that will outlive it”.
Prophet TB Joshua leaves a legacy of service and sacrifice to God’s Kingdom that is living for generations yet unborn.
The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations, and Emmanuel TV Family appreciate your love, prayers and concern at this time and request a time of privacy for the family.’ The statement ended.
Lagos Police Commissioner (CP) Hakeem Odumosu in a statement also offered some insight into how Pastor Joshua died Saturday night.
According to Odumosu, Joshua was officially pronounced dead by a hospital around 3am.
“It is true he is dead. I do not know the cause of his death yet. But the information we have is that he was conducting service. Along the line, he felt uncomfortable, walked to his apartment himself and never came back.
“His people thought he probably wanted to rest or refresh but when they didn’t see him after a long while, they went in search of him and found him in an unusual position.
“The service started in the evening. But it was around 3am that he was pronounced dead by a hospital.” he added.
Emmanuel TV, run by Mr Joshua’s SCOAN, is one of Nigeria’s largest Christian broadcast stations, available worldwide via digital and terrestrial switches.
TB Joshua was born in 12th June 1963 in Nigeria in Ondo State which is some 260 kilo meters from Lagos. TB Joshua is a Yoruba born and his full names are Temitope Balogun Joshua. His father kolawole Balogun was educated man who worked as a translator for the British in Nigeria translating Yoruba to English.
As a charismatic preacher, he claims to have the power to perform miracles, healing of the sick as well as casting out of demons
He also has huge followers across Africa and Latin America.
On Facebook alone, he has over with 3,500,000 fans.
TB Joshua had in a Facebook post on June 3 told his followers he would not be able to mark his 58th birthday.
In his words; “Happy Birthday to you! Viewers all over the world, June 12th is around the corner. As you know, I am a man of the people. So, the wound of one is the wound of all.”,He had said this in a special birthday message
“As things stand, you may have realised it will not be easy for me to celebrate my birthday under the present circumstances.
Some of the people who want to come are troubled by the situation all over the world. We see their fear and their worry. I feel their pain; I feel their worry.”
“Therefore, let us dedicate this day to prayer and fasting. Don’t forget the needy. By the grace of God, more birthdays are ahead. God bless you! Emmanuel. Jesus is Lord! Happy Birthday!” – TB Joshua
There are some controversies that went on about T.B Joshua during his lifetime.
The cleric was heavily criticised due to the large number of miracles that happened in his Church during services.
Recall that in 2017, popular televangelist, Chris Okotie, accused Joshua of “shamanist practices,” But he did not, however, provide evidence to back up his claims.
Joshua was always seen by fellow pentecostal pastors and Christians as being unorthodox and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) denied the Synagogue Church membership.
In April 2021, YouTube suspended Emmanuel TV channel from its platform, accusing the cleric of hate speech after the T.B Joshua was seen in a video casting out ‘gay spirit’ from his congregants.
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