The Coalition of Muslim Youth in Daawah has called on all persons involved in the campaign of calumny against the person of Prophet Temitope Joshua to desist from it.
The call was made in a statement signed by the founder of the coalition, Mallam Mukhtari Ademola, and made available to journalists in Abuja.
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According to him, “We have followed with avid interest the sittings of the inquest set up by the Lagos State Government ostensibly to unravel the circumstances surrounding the September 12, 2014 collapse of a building belonging to the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in the state especially to know the remote and immediate causes of the sad incident.
“Ordinarily, the efforts of the Lagos State government would have been commendable considering the huge loss and the number of casualty recorded. However, we have noted with dismay efforts of some persons who instead of seeing in this sad incident collective loss have rather been trying to rubbish in the mud the name and integrity of the founder of SCOAN, Rev. Temitope Joshua. They instead see this as an opportunity to pull him down by employing all tactics including name calling.
“Our concern stemmed from the fact that we were taken aback seeing some disgruntled elements making efforts unceasingly to turn an incident of national tragedy to personal vendetta. Instead of us to collectively commiserate with the man at the centre of it all, Reverend T B Joshua and rally around him; giving him encouragement to continue his good job in both the spiritual and physical lives of numerous people, some have taken it as their main obligation to castigate the man of God. This is unacceptable in any part of the world, let alone in an African setting where the physical and psychological welfare of the bereaved is sacrosanct.
“We wish to therefore, call on all persons involved in this campaign of calumny against the person of Reverend T. B. Joshua to earnestly desist from such vocation as it is not only bad in the sight of man, it is indeed a great sin in the sight of the Almighty.”
Ademola stressed, “We equally wish to call on the Lagos State government to toe the path of honour, legality and professionalism on this matter. In as much as the state government has the power to investigate the causes of the collapse, it must do so within the ambiance of civility and fairness. It is absolutely surprising why the physical presence and personal testimony of Rev. T. B. Joshua has been made more paramount than the supposed fact finding mission of the inquest.
“In these kinds of incidents, to all civilised nations, evidence of experts in the field of building and engineering would have been paramount rather than that of the owner of the building. Looking at the desperation with which the inquest is seeking the presence of Rev. Temitope B. Joshua, it will be clear to any casual observer that the inquest has become an inquisition. And that is bad for a government priding itself as democratic.”
Ademola said, “it has been observed that this desperation to see T. B. Joshua testify is borne out of malice and vendetta. We therefore urge the Lagos State government to wade in if it has any integrity to protect in this matter and disband the inquest forthwith. If the state is minded of knowing the cause of the collapse, a committee of experts should be constituted to unravel the circumstances surrounding it.
“We urge the Lagos state government and its agents including the Coroners inquisition to stop their continuous harassment of the man of God, Rev. T. B. Joshua should be left alone. Allow T. B. Joshua to focus on his divinely ordained mandate of attending to the spiritual and physical needs of the people, the latter which the government has roundly failed to do. Let us put an end to this desperate and despicable show of shame,” he said.
