TB Joshua: The Televised Miracles, the Building Collapse and the BBC Investigation

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Updated 8 November 2026. Every fact below is dated and attributed to its source.

Who was TB Joshua?

You may have watched TB Joshua's healings on Emmanuel TV, or prayed along with them, and now you want to know what the BBC found. TB Joshua was a Nigerian televangelist who founded the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in Lagos and built Emmanuel TV into one of the most watched Christian networks in the world, broadcasting healings to millions. He died in June 2021, aged 57. In July 2015 a Lagos coroner found his church culpable of criminal negligence over a guesthouse collapse that killed at least 116 people. In January 2024 a BBC investigation reported, from more than 25 former insiders, that his miracles were staged and that he abused followers. His church did not respond to those findings and has called earlier allegations unsubstantiated.

He was never convicted of a crime, and he cannot answer the allegations now. This page sets out what a court process found, what reporters were told and by whom, and what his church says, so that you can tell them apart.

Why did so many people come to him?

Picture a woman in South Africa in 2001. She has had two kidney transplants, and the second kidney is failing. She has heard that a prophet in Lagos heals the sick, and that you can supernaturally receive a new kidney. She travels to Lagos.

That woman is real. She told the BBC that at SCOAN she was told to stop taking her medication and "just believe". She believed she had been healed. When she got home, after four weeks without her medicine, she went into renal failure, spent more than six years on dialysis and needed a third transplant in 2011 (BBC, 14 January 2024). "I honestly thought we were seeing miracles," she said.

She was one of tens of thousands. Through the 1990s and 2000s pilgrims travelled to Lagos from Europe, the Americas, South-East Asia and Africa, and at least 150 people lived inside the compound as "disciples", some for decades, the BBC reported on 8 January 2024. Political leaders, celebrities and international footballers counted themselves among his associates.

What did the BBC find about the miracles?

The BBC's Africa Eye investigation, published on 14 January 2024, drew on more than 25 church insiders from the UK, Nigeria, Ghana, the US, South Africa and Germany. These are their accounts, given on the record to reporters, and they have not been tested in court. The BBC set out six methods they described.

• Screening. A section called the "emergency department" screened the sick and chose who would be filmed. Its former supervisor of ten years said people with cancer were sent away, while people with ordinary open wounds that could heal were presented as cancer cases.
• Placards. Chosen visitors held placards describing made-up or exaggerated illnesses, and were told to "exaggerate their problems so that God can heal you and exaggerate your healing".
• Hidden medicine. Foreign visitors were told to stop their prescribed drugs while the same drugs were bought and, the former supervisor said, put into blessed fruit drinks so that visitors stayed well during their stay.
• Wheelchairs. The church kept a supply of wheelchairs, and visitors were told they would not be prayed for unless they sat in one.
• Paid actors. At crusades abroad, a former disciple said, people living in poverty were paid to act out healings and were seated where Joshua would know to find them.
• Editing. SCOAN's former chief video editor said before and after clips were filmed months or even a year apart and spliced together so that healings looked instant.

The BBC also reported that in 2000 the Nigerian journalist Adejuwon Soyinka found that medical certificates shown on air were fake, and that his investigation went nowhere. One former disciple described the healings with a single word: "faked".

What happened in the 2014 building collapse?

On 12 September 2014 a multi-storey guesthouse for pilgrims at SCOAN collapsed. At least 116 people died, many of them South Africans. The authorities said the building had more floors than its foundation could hold, and emergency teams complained that church officials blocked access to the site (BBC, 8 July 2015).

TB Joshua said an aircraft circling the building was to blame. On 8 July 2015 the Lagos coroner Oyetade Komolafe rejected that claim. "The church was culpable because of criminal negligence resulting in the death of the victims," he said. SCOAN had not obtained proper approval for the structure, and he recommended that the church be prosecuted. He noted that, of everyone summoned, "only Prophet TB Joshua refused to testify". The BBC pointed out that a coroner's verdict is a recommendation, and that the decision to prosecute lay with Lagos State's director of public prosecutions.

In January 2024 the BBC published further accounts from former disciples. They said TB Joshua had been warned that the building was unstable, that he had pushed for extra floors, and that church workers were sent to South Africa with cash for bereaved families while telling them not to speak to the media. Three families in South Africa confirmed to the BBC that church representatives offered them money and discouraged them from talking to the press. One bereaved mother has sued SCOAN in a Nigerian civil court; the BBC reported the case as ongoing.

What abuse did former disciples report?

On 8 January 2024 the BBC, working with openDemocracy, published the findings of a two-year investigation. More than 25 former disciples, from the UK, Nigeria, the US, South Africa, Ghana, Namibia and Germany, described rape, forced abortions, beatings with electrical cables and whips, solitary confinement and routine sleep deprivation inside the Lagos compound, with the most recent accounts from 2019. Many said they were in their teens when they joined.

These are allegations. TB Joshua died before they were published and was never charged over them. Four British former members told the BBC they reported the abuse to UK authorities after leaving, and that no further action was taken. Witnesses in Nigeria said they were attacked after speaking out, and the BBC reported that its own crew, filming the compound from a public street in March 2022, was fired at by church security.

How did the ministry grow so large?

The engine was television. The filmed healings were sent on VHS tapes to churches around the world, the BBC reported. After Nigeria's broadcast regulator banned stations in 2004 from airing pastors' supposed miracles on live terrestrial TV, Joshua launched Emmanuel TV on satellite and then online, and his YouTube channel drew hundreds of millions of views.

Each broadcast healing worked as an advertisement for the next pilgrimage. Visitors travelled to Lagos and stayed in church accommodation, and former insiders say the most dramatic healings were the ones most carefully prepared. The record available to us does not set out the church's income or how it was spent, and this page does not guess at it.

What does his church say?

The BBC says it contacted SCOAN with the allegations in its investigation. The church did not respond to them, but it denied earlier claims against its founder: "Making unfounded allegations against Prophet TB Joshua is not a new occurrence... None of the allegations was ever substantiated." SCOAN continues under the leadership of Joshua's widow, Evelyn Joshua, the BBC reported.

Some people still believe they were healed at SCOAN, and some may have recovered for reasons nobody can now trace. The BBC's sources say the system was staged. They do not, and cannot, speak for every person who ever prayed with him.

What is proven, what is alleged, and what is unknown?

• Found by a coroner: the church was culpable of criminal negligence in the 2014 collapse, built without proper approval, and the aircraft explanation was rejected (8 July 2015).
• Reported by the BBC and openDemocracy: staged healings and abuse, from more than 25 named and anonymous former insiders. Not tested in court.
• His church's position: earlier allegations were never substantiated; no response to the 2024 findings.
• Unknown: whether anyone will be prosecuted over the collapse, the church's finances, and how many viewers stopped treatment because of what they saw on screen.

Red flags you can check yourself

• You are told to stop your medicine. This is the most dangerous sign of all. The Church tells us to take reasonable care of our health (Catechism 2288).
• Healings are always filmed, edited and broadcast. Ask who chose the people on stage, and what happened to them a year later.
• The prophet will not answer to anyone. TB Joshua refused to testify at the inquest into deaths at his own church.
• Grieving families are offered money to stay quiet. Truth does not need silence.
• Followers who leave are attacked or shamed. A shepherd who fears his former sheep has something to hide.

What does the Catholic Church teach about healing and miracles?

The Catholic Church believes God heals, sometimes through the sacraments, sometimes through prayer and very often through doctors. It does not put healing on stage. When it does recognise a miracle, it takes years, it asks independent doctors to examine the evidence, and it says nothing until the work is done. Our guide to how the Church verifies miracles explains the process, and praying for healing shows how Catholics pray for the sick.

Jesus warned that "false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect" (Matthew 24:24), and he told us to know them by their fruits (Matthew 7:16). Signs alone prove nothing. The fruit to look for is truth, humility, care for the weak and willingness to answer for your actions.

TB Joshua is one of several African prophets whose ministries draw searches on this site. Compare the charges against Shepherd Bushiri, the claims around David Owuor, and the end-times teaching that ended in murder at Shakahola. Our page on false prophets sets out how the Church tests anyone who claims to speak for God.

What should you do if you trusted a healer like this?

1. Restart any treatment you stopped, and tell your doctor what happened. There is no shame in it.
2. Keep the faith and drop the show. God did not deceive you. A man did, if the accounts are true.
3. Talk to a priest. Bring your questions about healing, prayer and anger to Confession or a parish conversation.
4. If you were harmed, contact the police where it happened and a support group for former members of high-control groups.

Sources

• BBC News, "TB Joshua exposé: How the disgraced pastor faked his miracles", Africa Eye investigation, 14 January 2024. bbc.com
• BBC News, "TB Joshua: Megachurch leader raped and tortured worshippers, BBC finds", with openDemocracy, 8 January 2024. bbc.com
• BBC News, "TB Joshua exposé: How the pastor covered up fatal Lagos building collapse", 9 January 2024. bbc.com
• BBC News, "Nigeria church run by TB Joshua 'should be prosecuted'", 8 July 2015, quoting the coroner via AFP. bbc.com
• Catechism of the Catholic Church 2288, on vatican.va. vatican.va

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was TB Joshua?

TB Joshua was a Nigerian televangelist who founded the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in Lagos and the Emmanuel TV network, which broadcast his healings around the world. He died in June 2021, aged 57, according to the BBC. His widow, Evelyn Joshua, now leads the church.

Were TB Joshua's miracles real?

A BBC investigation published on 14 January 2024, based on more than 25 church insiders, reported that his healings were staged: sick visitors were screened, people with curable conditions were presented as having cancer, actors were paid at crusades, and before and after footage filmed months apart was edited together. SCOAN did not respond to those findings and has called earlier allegations unsubstantiated.

What happened in the SCOAN building collapse?

On 12 September 2014 a multi-storey guesthouse at SCOAN in Lagos collapsed, killing at least 116 people, many of them South Africans. TB Joshua blamed an aircraft circling the building. On 8 July 2015 a Lagos coroner rejected that claim and found the church culpable of criminal negligence, because it had built without proper approval, according to the BBC.

Was TB Joshua ever convicted?

No. The Lagos coroner recommended in July 2015 that the church be prosecuted over the collapse, and the BBC noted that the decision then lay with Lagos State's director of public prosecutions. TB Joshua refused to testify at the inquest and died in 2021. The abuse allegations reported by the BBC in 2024 have not been tried in court.

What did the BBC find about TB Joshua?

The BBC and openDemocracy reported in January 2024, after a two-year investigation, that more than 25 former disciples from several countries described rape, forced abortions, beatings and sleep deprivation inside the Lagos compound, and staged healings. These are allegations from former members. SCOAN did not respond to them and denied earlier claims.

What does SCOAN say about the allegations?

The BBC says it put its findings to SCOAN, which did not respond to them. The church said of earlier claims: "Making unfounded allegations against Prophet TB Joshua is not a new occurrence... None of the allegations was ever substantiated."

Does the Catholic Church believe in miracles of healing?

Yes. The Church believes God still heals, and it tests claimed miracles slowly, with medical evidence, before it says anything. Jesus also warned that false prophets would "show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect" (Matthew 24:24). A healing that is real never asks you to stop taking your medicine.