Investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, has asked the public to view the controversies surrounding the late T.B. Joshua, through the lens of human rights abuse rather than solely as a religious matter.
His comments came after the BBC released a documentary shedding light on alleged abuses within the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), led by the late Prophet TB Joshua.
The documentary, which has sparked widespread discussions, exposes instances of sexual abuse, rape allegations, and manipulations of miracles within the SCOAN.
Anas in an interview with Arise News, stressed that the central focus should be on the documented cases of abuse rather than religion.
“I think that the major takeaway from this documentary is the level of abuse we’ve all seen in the film. And I don't want us to look at this with the lenses of religion, it is a pure human right abuse story which all of us as journalists have been doing and what you have the situation where girls have been raped, sexually abused and manipulations of miracles and others, its about time we say no these things, we stand firm and say it as it is to let people know what the real story is," he said.
Addressing concerns about the timing of the documentary's release in the wake of TB Joshua's passing, Anas argued that the death of an individual does not absolve them of accountability for alleged wrongdoings.
He drew parallels with historical figures like Hitler, emphasising that the atrocities committed by individuals should be acknowledged and discussed, regardless of their demise.
“I don't think this is an attack on the church, I have emphasised that we are not here to talk about religion, we are here to talk about human right abuses. We have done stories on human rights abuses, and this is not any different from the stories we do. I think that if there is something wrong, we should have the courage as journalists to be able to tell it as it is.
“The death of a person does not mean that the issue is dead. There are equally important and many poor people who have suffered as a result of these atrocities. We talk about Hitler today, he is dead but we still talk about the atrocities and the human right abuses he meted out to people,” he added.
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