Synagogue Building Collapse: Victims Are Martyrs Of God’s Kingdom – TB Joshua

The popular televangelist stuck to his theory of
possible aerial sabotage, while he disclosed that
several foreigners were involved in the mishap.
The death toll from the tragedy climbed after 10
more bodies were pulled from among the twisted
metal and shattered masonry of the building
on the sprawling SCOAN compound.
In a statement by the pastor, he sympathied
with victims’ families and described those who
died as “martyrs of the Kingdom of God”.
“The pain of one is the pain of all. It is indeed a
sad and painful moment for the families and
friends of those who have lost loved ones,” he
said.
“To all those who lost family members and loved
ones, please accept our heartfelt commiserations.”
Joshua said “Nigerians, South African and
citizens of other nations were affected” but did
not specify which countries or say whether they
were among the dead, 131 injured or both.
Although official figures had put the death toll
at 80, South African President Jacob Zuma had
Tuesday said 67 South Africans were killed in
the collapse.
South Africa’s High Commissioner to Nigeria,
Lulu Mnguni, however said 17 of his compatriots
were unaccounted for and the church had set up
a hotline in Johannesburg for concerned
relatives.
“It (the death toll) can’t all be South Africans,”
he told AFP. “There were also Nigerians who were
working. Two children were pulled alive from the
collapsed building but both their mother and
father were among the missing,” he added.
“They were under the rubble together with their
father. Their father kept them talking to each
other,” he said.
T.B. Joshua inspires an almost fanatical
devotion from his thousands of followers around
the world, who are drawn to his services by
claims of miracle-working and prophecies. But
rescue workers have complained of a lack of
cooperation from Joshua and the church
authorities, which included preventing the
emergency services from accessing the site until
Sunday.
The southwest coordinator of the National
Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) said
SCOAN officials had not disclosed the identities
and nationalities of those in the building at the
time.
Joshua rejected the lack of cooperation claims as
“inaccurate”. “Contrary to this, we want to
categorically state that the church has provided
assistance when and where required and
continues to do so: good Christians are good
citizens,” he said.
Engineers have suggested that the addition of
extra floors on top of the existing building for
foreign followers of the Pentecostal church
overloaded the structure, causing the fatal
collapse. On Wednesday, the Lagos State
government ordered urgent structural checks of
all buildings on the SCOAN site while NEMA
said that rescue operations could wind up on
Thursday. In South Africa, Zuma rejected
criticism that his government was slow to
respond to the tragedy.
Joshua, whose followers include heads of state
and top-level politicians such as Malawi’s former
president Joyce Banda, again suggested that a
low-flying aircraft may have been to blame.
“This incident was preceded by the appearance
of a strange aircraft which flew very low over the
building four times and then disappeared,” he
stated.
“The church views this tragedy as part of an
attack on The Synagogue Church Of All Nations
and in particular Prophet TB Joshua.“In due
course, God will reveal the perpetrators of this
unfortunate tragedy.”