TB Joshua wanted virgins, former disciple alleges

A former disciple of the late Prophet TB Joshua has alleged that he asked some of his mentees to recruit virgins to be assaulted.

BBC Africa Eye said in a documentary published on Monday that it spoke with 16 of Joshua’s former disciples who provided first-hand testimony of sexual assault or rape by Joshua.

Many believed they were the only ones being assaulted and did not dare share what was happening to them with the other disciples, as they were all encouraged to report on each other.

Identifying herself only with her first name, Victoria said Joshua ordered some of his most trusted Nigerian disciples to help identify new victims. The group was informally known as the “fishing department” and she said it ultimately coerced her into joining.

Bisola, who also chose not to give her surname, said: “TB Joshua asked me to recruit virgins for him… So that he could bring them into the disciple-fold and disvirgin them.”

She participated because of both “indoctrination” and threats of violence, she said, adding she too was repeatedly raped by Joshua.

Bisola said she spent 14 years inside Joshua’s compound at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN).

Several women said they were under the age of legal consent – which is 18 in Lagos State – when they were sexually assaulted or raped.

Jessica Kaimu, now a broadcast journalist in Namibia, said she was just 17 and a virgin when Joshua raped her in the bathroom of his penthouse, within weeks of her becoming a disciple.