Nigeria televangelist ‘waiting to hear from God’

Popular Nigerian televangelist TB Joshua says he is “waiting to hear from God” before resuming church services in the commercial hub of Lagos.

The Lagos State government says that services can resume on Sunday, with half their capacity, after being shut for months to curb the spread of coronavirus.

In a video posted on his Twitter account, TB Joshua said that “having heard from the authorities, we are now waiting to hear from God.

“Please be assured that as soon as we hear from God, we will inform you when our services will resume,” he added.

The self-styled prophet caused controversy earlier this year when he predicted that the coronavirus pandemic would be over by 27 March, several days before a lockdown was imposed on the states of Lagos, Ogun, and the capital, Abuja.

“By the end of this month, whether we like it or not, no matter the medicine they might have produced to cure whatever, it will go the way it came,” he said to applause from his congregation at the time.

When 27 March passed the televangelist found himself mocked for his “false prophesy”.

But he defended himself – once again to cheers from worshippers – by saying: “What I meant was that the virus would be halted where it began, and in Wuhan [in China] it has stopped.”