T. B. Joshua
Supporters of controversial Nigerian
pastor and self acclaimed healer and seer, Prophet T.B. Joshua, whose
guesthouse killed 116 people in September 2013 when it suddenly
collapsed in the premises of the Synagogue Church of All Nations in
Lagos have blasted Nigeria over the coroner’s court ruling which said on
Wednesday that the six storey building came down, not as a result of a
chemical or terror attack by an unidentified plane as the prophet had
claimed in a video, but due to structural defaults, due to negligence.
About 116 people, most of them South
African worshipers had died in the building collapse, and the court
recommended on 8 July 2015 that the contractors be prosecuted for
negligence.
T.B. Joshua himself refused to testify
in court when he was invited, claiming that he was being witch-hunted by
his enemies and detractors as he was not a building engineer, but only
the head of a church, preaching the word of God to the afflicted.
The cleric’s supporters, mainly foreign
supporters, expressed anger and dismay over the ruling on Wednesday, but
did not remember the dead and injured of the collapsed building which
was still being built and lodging foreign worshippers at the same time
the day it collapsed on Friday 12 September 2013 in Ikotun area of
Lagos.
“Do you know what this verdict will cost
Nigerians both at home and abroad,” wrote a fan who claimed to be
writing from the United States and gave his name as ‘Freedom’.”The
Nigerian government should know the whole world has seen the footage of
what happened in the incident. You cannot hide the truth.”
“I am a lawyer and I must say that
indeed the coroner panel was biased,” wrote John Mooney, who claimed to
be an Australian. “The Lord shall vindicate you and the entire church,”
he added, commenting on the official statement released by The SCOAN
which rejected the coroner’s outcome as ‘one-sided’ and ‘unreasonable’.
Morcie Tulloch, who claimed to be a
Jamaican, stated,”This attack on your ministry is an indication that you
are impacting the kingdom of darkness not only with your deliverance
and healing ministries but your love and care for the poor and
suffering.”
“What else do we expect from the so
called coroner,” wrote Peter allegedly from United Kingdom. “The same
people who masterminded the controlled demolition of the SCOAN guest
house are also behind the coroner’s unholy verdict,” he said in anger.
John Parker, an American, stated,”The
truth will eventually be revealed and may God have mercy on those who
would bear false witness against a man of God!”
“Why is a bombed building said to have
collapsed due to poor workmanship,” commented Zgambo Binford, a Kenyan
based Malawian. “I now see why us Africans are 1000s of years behind
Westerners.”
Dee Kivido from Holland was insistent
that it was not a case of structural failure. “The way that building
came down is CLEAR to anyone even with minimum construction knowledge
that it was not caused by structural defects,”she stated. “I am a woman
in construction and can attest to this.”
“Nigeria should know that human rights
activists will not rest this case until justice is done,” added Matt
Weller, a social activist from Germany. “The Nigerian government will be
made to pay for this monumental cover-up,” he heatedly declared.
“This is further proof that the church
is being attacked by darkness throughout the world,”wrote American Cindi
Sherstad, comparing The SCOAN verdict with the recent decision of the
US Supreme Court to approve same-sex marriage.
“I pray that calmness shall come over
this situation,” wrote Christian-Elizbe van Schalkwyk from South Africa,
assuring Joshua that South Africans were behind him and his ministry.
The comments were posted on Prophet T.B . Joshua’s Facebook page.
In two months, it will be two years
since the worshippers died in a place they had come to seek God’s face.
While the controversy lingers and no one wants to take responsibility
for their death but everyone is blaming the devil or satanic forces, for
the families of the victims, their loved ones are gone, and gone
forever. And in just two months, they will be the only ones remembering
them in the silence of their broken hearts and empty rooms. For they
were not just numbers, but fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers.
Credit: www.simonateba.com
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