A popular but controversial Nigerian evangelical preacher, T. B. Joshua has died, his church said on Sunday on Facebook without disclosing the cause of death.
The 57-year-old founder of The Synagogue Church of All Nations, a Christian megachurch in Lagos, Nigeria was one of Africa’s most influential preachers with millions of television and social media followers, but YouTube and Facebook took him to task over content deemed violent.
Below are the controversies
1.His website is full of testimonies about his apparent powers of prophecy. On Facebook, the TB Joshua Ministries page includes a post titled: “AIDS kicked out with prayer.”
2.The pastor’s YouTube channel, which has more than 1.8 million subscribers and 600 million views, was shut down in April over allegations of hate speech against LGBT people.
3.In one of his videos, watched more than 1.5 million times, a woman is seen being hit violently to “cure” her of her sexuality.
4.Facebook also removed several videos on Joshua’s page, which has more than 5.7 million followers, over his “cures”.
5.TB Joshua was also in the spotlight after 116 people died — 84 of which were South Africans — when a six-story guesthouse at his Lagos church complex collapsed in 2014. An inquiry found extra floors had been added without planning permission, and engineers responsible for the construction are currently on trial for manslaughter.