All language subtitles for Eye Investigations - Disciples The Cult of TB Joshua Episode 2 1080p HEVC BigJ0554

It was so hard to come out,
because when I...

AUDIENCE CHEERS

He created narratives
about all of us -

"Oh, you know, this one's come,
they've got a problem with men.

"Promiscuous."

I was a virgin,
so I didn't understand

what this "lust, lust" thing
was all about.

WOMAN SCREAMS

It was the worst decision
I've ever made, going there.

I will never experience fear
like it ever.

MAN WEEPS

HE LAUGHS

Everybody wanted to know
how he got his power,

but the story was just like...

..vapour.

The world needs to be awakened

to the truth of who TB Joshua
was.

My dad, he had fear.

He had fear, constant fear.

He was very afraid that
someone would speak up, turn

around and make him answer to
those things that he had done.

HE SHOUTS

He used to watch a really big
American evangelical

television station.

He'd laugh
and he used to tear them apart.

But he actually just really
wanted what they'd got.

He realised that this
televangelism

was a way to reach the world.

Disciples had to help set up

this thing called Emmanuel
TV...

..this 24-hour-a-day broadcast
about TB Joshua,

who is unlike any other pastor
in the world.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Just by him walking into
a building,

these evil spirits
would start shaking about.

HE SHOUTS

He is so powerful, more
powerful than Satan himself.

When Emmanuel TV came out
in 2006, that was huge.

Millions of people tuned in
all over the world.

The live service had probably
50,000 people attend.

We thought that this was, like,

the thing that would
change the world.

HE LAUGHS

Some people ended up stopping
going to their own churches.

They'd sit at home
and watch Emmanuel TV.

Everybody wanted the privilege
to go with, to meet this...

..big giant called TB Joshua.

I was 17 years old when I went

to the Synagogue Church of All
Nations.

It was Emmanuel TV
that hooked me in.

It felt like...

SIGHS: .."I finally found
my purpose in life."

The whole compound
revolved around TB Joshua.

BISOLA:

TB Joshua's room, or apartment,
was right at the top end

of the church building.

He doesn't have his own house,

where he stays with his family.
No.

His wife was on
a completely different floor.

He lived there
completely by himself.

We used to refer to it
as Five Storey,

cos it was the fifth floor.

It was a very lavish,
presidential set of rooms.

Daddy, as we used to call him,
he had young Nigerian boys

that would run around for him
up in his Five Storey bedroom.

You know, they'd get
anything he wanted.

They'd do his hair,
they'd wash his underpants.

We were called
Five Storey Brothers.

That is young guys like me.

Gave us the opportunity
to serve the prophet,

just literally serve him just
the way that maids serve kings.

You have to be there in
his privacy.

If I can use the word,
even to the nudity,

you see everything.

There was a lot of strange
things behind closed doors.

EMMANUEL:

And I was like, "What's the
significance of this?"

APPLAUSE

People were constantly coming

for deliverance, for
witchcraft.

After those people
are delivered,

they would stay at
the Prayer Mountain.

They would lodge there
at the Prayer Mountain.

BISOLA:

AKEWI:

Sexual immorality was
a common thing

that he would always talk
about.

We were all supposed to be
kind of celibate.

We were taught that
everything sexual was bad,

it was sinful, it was wrong.

WOMAN SHOUTS

I believed that, by my nature,
I was unholy.

I was gay,
and that I didn't want to be.

I had this huge battle going on
in my head,

and I thought he could help me.

He always painted and shamed
women for being harlots

and having the spirit of lust.

Every woman had lust.

Every female was struggling
from the spirit of lust.

He created narratives
about all of us -

"Oh, you know, this one's come,
they've got a problem with men.

"Promiscuous."

He would tell me, "Look at
the way you are looking.

"You are not even
concentrating.

"You are not doing this.
It's the spirit of lust!

"You want to masturbate
every time you are alone.

"And I want to help you.
I can help you."

He got me to write down

that I am a prostitute from
Namibia 400 times.

And then I signed on camera
that it is me, Jessica, signing

"I'm a prostitute from Namibia"
400 times.

Yes, yes.

SHE SCREAMS

The repetition lasts in the
morning, afternoon, evening -

"You are sleeping because of
lust. Anything you do, lust."

I started believing that
maybe...

..maybe I have it.

I was a virgin,
so I didn't understand

what this "lust, lust" thing
was all about.

We had this weird culture of,

we had to phone him
before we went to bed.

And there were phones
all over the church

and it was considered really
rude not to call.

It was a ritualistic thing,

like morning prayers or evening
prayers.

"Goodnight. Goodnight, Daddy.
Goodnight, sir."

You had to do it.

You'd phone his bedroom
on the intercom.

PHONE RINGS

And it would ring and ring
and ring and ring and ring.

RINGING CONTINUES

I'd be like, "Hello, Daddy.
It's Rachel. Goodnight, sir."

He'd be like, "OK, goodnight,"

and he'd just put the phone
down.
Just, like, no interest.

My friends used to, like, call
them,

and they used to go up to
his room

with their Bible and their
notebook.

They'd go up and they come
down,

they'd go up, they'd come
down,

and I often used to think
to myself...

.."Why doesn't he call me?
I need to try harder."

We had to sleep in
his bathroom.

We had to sleep on the floor.

EMMANUEL:

At a particular time
in the middle of the night,

he just asked us to go to our
room to go sleep.

I was curious -

"Why is Daddy locking us
outside?" I was curious.

So I had to peep under
this door.

Then I realised that
something was happening there.

Some activities was going on.

It's as if something sexual
was happening in there.

I knew that the wife was not
around.

His wife doesn't have access
to his room.

EMMANUEL:

A lot of thoughts were going
through my mind.

It's just like, "Daddy's trying
to cover up something."

PHONE RINGS

I'd be climbing on
my bunk bed -

exhausted, absolutely
exhausted...

..and you'd get a tap -

"Daddy's calling you, Daddy's
calling you."

"Oh, I want you to come up.
I want you to come and see me."

PHONE RINGS

One night, Daddy phoned,
and he was like,

"You know, you did so well
today."

And he said, "OK, come up,
bring your Bible,

"and let us look at your...

"Look at your...Bible notes
with you."

This is, like, early hours of
the morning - 3:00, 4:00, 5:00.

You were so knackered.

This is on two hours of sleep
from the night before.

The room, it was like a
sanctuary.

The carpet was so soft,
really thick carpet.

It was luxurious,
like, big, billowing curtains.

But he'd got his shirt, like,
off and his shorts on,

sitting down on his chaise
longue.

He said, "OK, can I read
some of my notes?"

He'd...beckon me over and I
would kneel

beside the chaise longue.

He was like, "How am I?"
and "How's things?"

and, you know,
he loves me very much and...

..how God's going to
super-use me.

"You're so good at preaching.

Don't ever leave me. Don't ever
leave me."

"No, no, no, Daddy.
No, I won't."

He told the lads
that were in his bathroom

that they should sleep.

He stood up...

..and he locked the doors and
he switched the lights down.

He said to me, "Oh, can you
take your pyjama bottoms off?"

And I just was like a robot.
I just...

I just was like,
"Oh, yes, sir."

And like a parrot,
like exactly what I did

for every other instruction
that he'd given me -

"Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Yes, sir. Yes, sir."

Like a... Like a frickin'
robot, you know?

"Yes, sir."
Off come the pyjama pants.

He would come towards me,

and then he'd wrap his leg
around the back of my legs

and lower me like a plank
onto the carpet.

He lowered me, like, on my back
to the floor.

He started sticking his tongue,
like, in my ear.

It was this ear first,
and then he went into that ear.

And I remember lying there like
a piece of wood and thinking,

"What the hell is he doing?
This is disgusting!

"It's disgusting.
What, what..?"

Like... And I totally froze.

I just panicked. Like, I went
into complete panic.

He was grinding and sticking
his fingers...his tongue

in my ear, and I'm lying there.

And then, like, within five
minutes, he's basically done

his business and, like,
masturbated on me, basically...

..gets up and says to me,
"OK, you can go."

I was 17 years old.

I didn't realise
what was happening to me.

I was a good little
Christian girl.

I didn't know what it was.

It became so robotic,
I disconnected from my body.

I just became like a puppet.

Going up to his room
in the middle of the night,

I always saw young girls
coming down the stairs.

My mind would sometimes go,
"Oh, I wonder if they're having

"the type of time
I'm having with him."

You know, at first, it was
like, "Remove your top,"

and I would be uncomfortable
with it.

And if I didn't do what he
wanted,

then he would threaten me -

to the point where, eventually,
he would, like, assault me

and then blame me afterwards
and say, you know,

"You did this, you did this.

"Look at what you've done
to me. Look what you've done."

The first time that he made
any sexual move on me...

..he touched my breast

and he was hugging me and
breathing heavily.

I went to one
of the disciples -

"Does he touch you
inappropriately?"

She jumped and said,
"No! He's my father.

"Even if he touches me,
even if he hugs me,

"I know that he is my father."

You would confide in someone.

Before you know it,
"Meeting, meeting, meeting!"

And we have the disciple
meetings

at night for reporting.

You would just see people
running.

So when you see people running,
when you see disciples running,

you just run and you follow
where they're running to.

You would just run.

Discipleship meetings, they
filled me with a sense of doom.

He'd start the meeting and say,
"OK, who has a report?"

I was just opening the door.

Brother Agomoh was standing
there with this one woman.

And I phoned...and said,
"I don't know what's going on.

"I saw Brother Agomoh with this
woman in a very dark place."

So...I was very surprised.

We were obligated to go and
report

and tell TB Joshua
every single thing.

If you did the wrong thing...

..there was punishment.

And that was served in
different forms.

This sister reported me and
said, "Oh, Jessica called me

"and told me that you
touched her inappropriately."

He stood up from his chair...

"Do I do that to you?
Can I do that, a man of God?!"

And she said, "No, sir, she's
lying. She's just lustful."

He hit me. He slapped me.
He punched me.

He kicked me in the stomach.

All disciples go through this.

Even the most powerful people
have to be brought down

because he is at the very top
all the time.

AGOMOH:

SOBBING:

BISOLA:

BISOLA:

I remember her being in a state
of emotional turmoil.

No-one is ever in that top
position the whole time.

That's the cycle - you're built
up and broken down.

BOY WEEPS

He was really violent.

We didn't speak about these
things.

There was no safe place.
There was no friend.

There was nobody you could go
to and say,

"Oh, my God, this happened. I
saw this." You'd be terrified.

He made everybody your enemy
and you everybody else's enemy.

God had told him that he must
show other people

the right way to live.

He started having massive
events for people

that had got disabilities,
wheelchair-bound people.

He'd give them rice,
he'd give them food.

There was, like, this massive
show of generosity...

His shield was his message,

this mass outworking of charity
to cover who he really was.

It was very difficult to watch
this man preach every Sunday,

talking about love and
about mercy.

It felt very strange
coming from his lips.

I stare myself in the mirror
lots of times,

and...maybe I do look like him.
Maybe.

For as long as I can remember,

I have been raised as
TB Joshua's daughter.

She's his actual daughter,
his biological daughter

with another woman outside of
wedlock.

He... He didn't seem
to like her very much.

She was, like, kind of labelled
the black sheep of the family.

AJOKE: I was in primary school.

I was made to move
to the disciples' room.

I didn't volunteer to be a
disciple. I was made to join.

I think he wanted to keep her
a secret.

I don't think he wanted anyone
to know who she was.

The message about Ajoke
was that

she had terrible, evil spirits
that needed to be driven out.

There was a time
in the disciples' meetings,

he said that people could
beat her,

anyone in the female dormitory
could just hit her.

And I saw people
just walking in,

just slapping her
as they walked past.

There was a particular time
that I was very tired,

I had slept a little bit
too much.

So he started, like, shouting
at her to get up,

to get up, to get up.

And there was another,
like, disciple there

who basically took her
and took her to the shower

and whipped her
with an electrical cord

and then turned the
hot water on.

Pulled my head right under
hot water.

I was screaming at top
of my voice, and he just let

the water run on my head for a
very long time.

We're talking about years and
years of abuse,

consistent abuse,
abuse that wasn't ending.

He hated her and he punished
her for being born.

Her existence was probably

the biggest threat to his
reputation.

I couldn't even have
an identity.

That kind of pain
cannot be put into words.

I felt like, "You know what?

"Maybe I really don't deserve
to be alive."

AGOMOH:

Things like that...

..it's scary to talk about.
It's really shameful, like,

that I witnessed that and I
didn't do anything to help her.

Oh, my goodness.

She must... I don't know what
she thought

about the rest of us.

The disciples were both
brainwashed and enablers.

Everybody was just acting based
on commands, like zombies.

Nobody was questioning
anything.

They were beyond fanatics.

Where does your
conscience come?

How far can your conscience go

without some form of
accountability,

without some form of truth?
How far?

I think...

I think what's really hard
to understand,

even for myself...

..is how you can have someone
who's sitting here,

with a sound mind now,

narrating events that happened
that are so atrocious...

..didn't do anything to
stop them.

Why didn't you,

Rae,

stop what you know
what was going on?

Why didn't you stop it?

It was a culture.

We'd become numb to it. It was
normal.

You've got people abusing,
who are abused.

He took people who were good,
caring, kind, lovely people,

and he turned them
into monsters.

There was a time when TB Joshua
called me into his office

and asked me,
"Do you think I'm a monster?"

What TB Joshua said to me
about what he was doing to me

was that he could see
into my future,

that I was going to lead
a life of promiscuity,

and that he had to do what he
was doing for my salvation.

He was telling me that,
you know, "I'm your father,

"and I am delivering you."

We went into his room,
and I stood there,

and he say, "Off your clothes."

So I...I removed my clothes,

and then he just pointed.

So I lied down.

And then he raped me.

He broke my virginity.

I was screaming,
and he was whispering in my ear

that I should stop.

"Stop acting like a baby.

"Better shut up.

"You want to make noise,
you want people to hear?"

I felt like there was a beast.

Like, this beast.

I was 17 years old.

I was under age.

He grabbed me and he held me
very close to him.

And he...he literally then
pushed me down to the bed

and he got on me.

I was still so shocked.

I was still bleeding.

He spit on the floor,

and he held my hands,

and he looked straight into my
eyes and said...

.."I can see you are my
child now.

"Don't betray me."

You were absolutely trapped

because you were there
for salvation,

and he was the only one
who could give you salvation.

And I had told myself, "No-one
else will ever want you,

"and there is no home for you."

And I just knew...

I just...

You just tell yourself...

.."Oh, this is my life.

"I have no alternative."

Look, each time...

..you'd be called, each time
they would say,

"Daddy's calling you..."

Hey, man...

..the bottom line is
you'd have to go there.

You would have to just put
your feelings aside

and just...go there.

BISOLA:

AKEWI:

I remember one day, TB Joshua,

he called for me.

He allowed me on the boat.

We went so far.

There was a prayer hut
I had never seen before.

EMMANUEL:

AKEWI:

It's just candles everywhere...

..pictures.

AKEWI:

EMMANUEL:

AKEWI:

TRANSLATED:

EMMANUEL:

Holding the sword,
going around,

"Oh, Lord, forgive us.
Oh, Lord, forgive us.

Oh, Lord, forgive us.
"Have mercy on us.
Have mercy on us."

EMMANUEL:

BISOLA:

AKEWI:

WOMAN SCREAMS

EMMANUEL:

He would always tell you
which entrance to take,

which door to...to get into.

He can ask the ladies to come
through any of the door.

So people don't see them.

DOOR THUDS, LOCK CLICKS

He would always ask you
when you come,

"Did anybody see you?"

I'd be like, "No, sir."

Then he would rape me again.

It was a process,
a very nasty cycle.

We couldn't see it
right under our nose.

He designed a system for
deceiving all of us disciples.

A lot of women were being
abused by this man.

I had no idea.

I thought I was the only one.

I didn't know that that thing
had happened to anybody else.

This is a place, a system
whereby you have

nobody to talk to. And there
was nothing I could do.

EMMANUEL:

BISOLA:

Rape became like a normal,

terrifying thing that he would
do.

It's like you are an animal
being slaughtered.

SCREAMING

We used to film women
giving birth live.

That's what he used to paint a
picture that he loves children.

But behind closed doors...

..it's a nightmare.

It's a nightmare.

I had three abortions
at Synagogue.

And from speaking to
other women,

I'm not the only one.

If any of us got pregnant,
he said,

"You cannot betray
the man of God.

"We have to do something
about it."

Women that he rapes,

he forces them into abortion.

I never had a choice whether

I could keep a potential child
or not.

I felt like I didn't
own my body.

You know it. You skip your
first period,

you skip your second period,
and you have to talk.

It would all happen in secrecy.

You would be taken
by one of these elder mums

to this clinic of his.

We went out through
the back door of his office.

We went downstairs.

There's an area
that visitors would never see.

You're given a concoction
to drink.

You get sick.

Or they put these metal pieces
in your vagina,

and they extract whatever.

And you don't know whether
they're pulling out your womb

or something's going wrong.

She was squeezing my stomach,

and I had to push, all those
things.

He was saying, "Out! Out! Out!"

BISOLA:

These were back-door
medical treatments

that I - we -
were going through.

It could have killed us.

BISOLA:

Sometimes you'd find yourself
singing onstage at church

and people will think
you're crying because...

..the Holy Spirit is there,

but in actual fact,

you're dead inside.

BISOLA:

SHE SOBS

The God I was introduced to
is evil, he's diabolic,

because this is the same God
that would sleep with us.

This is the same God
that would beat us up.

This is the same God
that would manipulate us.

You have no idea
of what I went through.

Every time I was beaten up,

every time I was humiliated,

it just reminded me that there
was something wrong

with that system.

I saw females that was going up
to his room.

They were away,
they were going away for hours.

I was hearing things.
"Oh, this happened to me,"

or, "He tried sleeping
with me."

Too many people were saying
the same thing.

Accounts, first-hand, of people

who had experienced sexual
abuse.

EMMANUEL:

I couldn't take it any more.

I walked directly into his
office, and I went off.

I shouted at the top
of my voice,

"Why are you doing all of this?

"Why are you hurting
all of these women?

"You're using these women.

"You're sleeping with
these women."

I lost every ounce of fear
for this man.

He was shocked.

He was beyond shocked,
and he couldn't hide it.

He tried to, you know,
stare me down

while I was looking at
his eyes.

EMMANUEL:

Disciples dragged me
out of the office.

I was put in a room totally
isolated from,

like, the rest of the church.

EMMANUEL:

I wonder how I lived
through that time,

because they were hitting me
with belts, chains.

I couldn't even stand up for
days after this beating.

I couldn't take a shower.

He was trying so hard to stop
people from listening to me.

He just felt threatened
by the fact

that I knew the things
that was happening.

EMMANUEL:

This child could see
what we couldn't see,

and wouldn't yield to the lies,

and was punished for it.

He created an image
of an untouchable being,

of a perfect being.

But I was looking
through those things.

I was seeing a man
that was very vulnerable,

that was very afraid
of the truth.

He was very afraid
that someone would speak up,

could turn around
and make him answer

to those things that
he had done.

Everything was a keg
of gunpowder,

and it could have gone off
in one moment.

EXPLOSION

EMMANUEL:

How do you stand up to a man

who has got a list of
presidents in his pocket?

AKEWI:

MAN IMITATES GUNFIRE

He threatened to kill me!

BISOLA: