CON-ARTISTS EXPOSED AT SYNAGOGUE CHURCH

A gang of con artists that specialise in using the name of Prophet TB Joshua in
bilking people out of large sums of their hard-earned money was, penultimate
Sunday, exposed at The Synagogue Church of All Nations, SCOAN.

One daring and long-running esca pade of the crooks came to a dramatic end when their
victim, Felix Doye Yabrifa, finally smelt a rat. The Bayelsa State based businessman was
reacting to the constant warning broadcast on SCOAN’s satellite television channel,
Emmanuel TV, alerting viewers to the menace of people and churches who bandy the
prophet’s name about for dubious purposes. He decided on a fact-finding mission to The
Synagogue after repeatedly hearing the warnings.

Four years ago, Yarbifa was in his Bayelsa base when a three-man group led by an old lady
arrived, uninvited. They told him they were specifically sent to him by Prophet TB Joshua to
perform certain spiritual exercises that would last only three days. On the instruction of the
prophet, they said, he (Yabrifa) should take care of them for the period the exercise lasted.
“Initially I was reluctant because of the cost implication of taking care of three persons – hotel
accommodation, feeding and logistics,” said Yabrifa, “but when the name of Prophet TB
Joshua was mentioned, I had no alternative than to accommodate them.”

First, he took them to his home where their initially proposed three-day stay stretched to a
whole three weeks. Next, he moved them to a hotel. But a nightmarish four year spell for the
hapless businessman was only just beginning. Eventually, well over three million Naira of his
cold, hard cash simply went down the drain during the whole ordeal.

Running Low On Cash

It was as if the conmen had put a hex on Yabrifa. Willy-nilly, for eight months, he just
continued to do the bidding of these strangers, continuously doling out cash to pay their hotel
bills and taking care of their other needs. Then, he began to run low on cash, as his bills ran
up.

As a last resort, he settled for a rented four- bedroom apartment into which he
moved his uninvited guests. As at when he addressed the congregation at The Synagogue
Church of All Nations that Sunday, they were still in the rented apartment in Bayelsa State.
Continued Yabrifa, “Each time they talked to me, it was like they put fear in me. So wherever I
was, I will just have to bring out the money. Even when I was closing my account, I didn’t even
know.”

Sacrifice To Marine Spirits

The confident tricksters got even more daring and more diabolical. Their leader, the elderly
lady, had Yabrifa believe that she was in constant touch with Pastor Joshua: “She confirmed to
me that she was constantly in touch with the man of God and that they communicate in spirit
on a daily basis,” narrated the businessman, who also told the congregation of worshippers at
the church that the con-artists told him they the primary aim of their visit was to pray for the
people of Bayelsa State and then put a stop to a refinery project that was having some
financial problems.
Even as he continued to take care of them, they made new demands on Yabrifa and even his
France-based business partner who had waded into the matter, to bail his business associate
out of his financial mess. From his partner, they demanded for N1million to be paid into their
account every month, and from Yabrifa himself, that the sum of N20,000 be given them every
week. When his partner heard of the new demands, he protested. On his own part, Yabrifa saw
that despite all he was doing, there was no progress for the better, whatsoever. “Besides, they
were introducing me to something contrary to what was happening in The Synagogue Church
by telling me to provide money to buy items for them to go and sacrifice to marine spirits
here and there,“ Yabrifa noted.

Email
From then on, the businessman could no longer fold his arms and swallow what he had
condoned for four long years. He had also been hearing the announcements on Emmanuel TV
and this heightened his suspicion. He quickly emailed The Synagogue Church to find out the
truth: “When I heard the publications and broadcasts on Emmanuel TV, I became very
suspicious and decided to write this very email thinking that when I come here today, at least
I would know the truth,” said he, brandishing a copy of the email he had written to The
Synagogue as he narrated his ordeal to the congregation.

To his greatest amazement, when he arrived at The Synagogue Church that Sunday, he ran
into the ringleader of the group, an elderly woman who was fingered by the victim and was
quickly picked up by security agents. “Funny enough, this afternoon I saw one of them so I
said well, let me put this across to the man of God.” She was brought into the church where
Yabrifa narrated his ordeal, then later taken to Kaiama with her victim, where the Emmanuel
TV crew videoed all the locations where the fraud allegedly took place, to corroborate Yabrifa’s
allegations. Finally, Yabrifa and the television crew returned to Lagos with the suspect and the
rest of her gang in tow.

Forgiveness and Deliverance

The following Sunday the suspected conmen were brought to The SCOAN. First, a video
recording of the previous week’s encounter was played back for the congregation, to refresh
their memory. The Emmanuel TV’s trip to Bayelsa State was also played back for the
audience. Then, Yabrifa continued his story from where he stopped. Prophet TB Joshua
occasionally interjected, as he spoke, on the recorded video: “The person he is talking about
mistakenly entered here today and they grabbed one of them… he (Yabrifa) was already
going, during the break. He just moved outside and he saw one. They would not enter the
church, they are always hanging around…”

Finally, the prophet, describing the entire saga as irritating, asked that the narration be
stopped, midway into the evidence of the second suspect, a tall, well-built, well-turned out
middle-aged man that looked more like a respected tribal chief, than a con-artist. He
proceeded to administer prayers and deliverance on them, while thanking everyone in the
audience, especially Yabrifa and the people of Bayelsa Sate, for forgiving the suspected
culprits. “Let us put all this behind us,” he pleaded.

“People of Bayelsa, thank you,” continued the prophet, “forgiveness is our key. Thank you for
forgiving her and her group, may God strengthen your desire for Him. I know that if you
people did not forgive her, today, the issue would have been a different question. And thank
you, my people, people of God, for forgiving her.” The leader of the group, the elderly lady
who was first apprehended the previous week had her turn to speak. Looking a bit more
remorseful than the previous week when she was first apprehended, her statement was quite
simple: “My name is Marina Patrick… all the things wey him (Yabrifa) talk about me is true, I
carry him go water… all the things wey him talk about me is true…”

Joshua used the occasion to preach the virtues of forgiveness to his congregation. “When you
listen to the confessions, there is nothing we are trying to say than go and forgive those who
sin against you. That’s all. We are indirectly communicating to you that you too should forgive
those who have sinned against you. No matter how big or small, forgive. Leave it for God. God
will fight for you. We are only preaching to you the gospel of forgiveness.”
Blackmail
Going down memory lane, Prophet TB Joshua told his congregation that there is nothing he
and The SCOAN have not been accused of in the past. He recalled an incident that happened
in The Synagogue Church three years ago. A blind man had been healed and his sight
restored. As the man began to chant and praise God and give testimony, some people went
straight to the man and offered him N1.2million, if he could just deny the miracle he received
and declare it was fake. “The man refused the offer of money and had to run away because
they wanted to kill him,” said the prophet. “He had to abandon his home because they said
they would come at him. There are lots of things like that.”

Meanwhile, during the same Sunday service, a newspaper which reported in its Tuesday May
19, 2009 edition, that a woman and her son disappeared at The Synagogue Church Of All
Nations, was displayed side by side the same woman who was reported to have gone missing
with her son.

Chiji Okafor

SOURCE: The National Life – Vol. 1, No. 46 – Sunday May 31