Nigeria Healer Offers AIDS 'Cure'

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) _ At the "emergency section" of a sprawling church on the outskirts of Lagos, more than two dozen people sit on wooden pews, holding placards proclaiming they're infected with HIV.

The scene is rare in a country where talking about the virus is all but taboo, and open admission of infection can provoke deep prejudice.

But these people have come to be cured, and they believe Temitope Balogun Joshua _ a faith-healer known as "the pastor," "the overseer" and "the prophet" _ is the man who can do it.

"Not many people are coming forward to say they'll heal HIV," said 29-year-old Kafayat Aladesanmi, one of 33 infected people waiting last week to be cured at the Synagogue, Church of All Nations. "But Prophet Joshua's been healing many, many people. I believe the man can do it."

Critics charge that faith-healers like Joshua are scam artists, taking advantage of the poor and desperate to enrich themselves.

But with an estimated 2.6 million of Nigeria's 120 million people infected with HIV, AIDS remedies are anxiously sought by those hoping to escape a disease the rest of the world says is incurable.

"The Western world says there is no cure for AIDS, but people are going to be healed in this place today," said Sunnie Esufu, 38, hoping for a miracle after a test showed she was HIV-positive.

After keeping his audience waiting more than 12 hours _ he works only when the spirit moves him _ Joshua strides confidently into the church, blue microphone in hand.

A camera and light crew is in tow, filming his every move. They broadcast the scene live on televisions perched just above the spectators, who line hundreds of pews spiraling out across the dirt floor.

The ill wait eagerly, clutching signs on which they've scrawled their afflictions in large letters for all to see.

Aside from AIDS, there's cancer, hernias, "teeth problem," "body itching" and "sleepless nights." Thrown into the mix are "evil attack," "family curse," "business failure" and "permanent erection."

After a quick sermon, Joshua moves toward the row of AIDS patients and works his way down the line.

He places a hand over 30-year-old Walter Robinson's head, says a prayer and stands back. Joshua frantically waves his arms back and forth, and Robinson stumbles left and right accordingly. After less than a minute, Joshua waves him away.

Once Joshua has gone down the row, all begin dancing to exuberant cheers from the crowd. A soldier in uniform suddenly drops down and starts performing push-ups to demonstrate his refound strength.

Many of those in attendance have seen or heard about Joshua's "miracles" on TV and radio. Others have seen his polished Web site or heard broadcasts over local radio stations. On sale at the church are glossy magazines, cassettes, calendars, CDs and videos of Joshua in action.

It also boasts a massive video library _ "a record for future generations" _ containing what church officials say are 11,000 different "miracles" Joshua has performed in the last eight years or so.

Tapes are played nonstop on church TVs throughout the day. As they play, church officials move about with plates, asking for donations.

Critics, particularly aid workers trying to fight AIDS with scarce resources, accuse Joshua of preying on the ignorance of AIDS sufferers.

"Who wouldn't want a cure for HIV? We'd all be in favor of that," said Tim McLellan of the Society for Family Health, a Nigerian charity that promotes AIDS education and brings millions of condoms into the West African country every year.

"But the promotion of these remedies without scientific proof to back them up has been damaging to the overall effort of AIDS prevention in Nigeria," McLellan said.

Western pharmaceutical companies have recently begun slashing the cost of HIV treatments in some African countries. But in Nigeria, where millions live in squalor despite the nation's oil wealth, effective AIDS drugs remain inaccessible to all but a wealthy few.

"For the average impoverished Nigerian, it's not possible to buy those drugs," said 32-year-old Innocent Bachimugu, a pharmacist looking for a healing touch from Joshua.

"But HIV drugs will not cure the disease anyway. What I want is a cure. That's why I came."