A journalist, Nicholas Ibekwe, has accused the head of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Pastor T.B. Joshua, of offering bribes to journalists to tilt in favour of the church stories on the collapse of the church’s guest house.
The guest house, which collapsed on September 12, left over 86 persons dead and several others wounded.
It was located within the headquarters of the church in Ikotun area of Lagos State.
The church had said it suspected sabotage as one helicopter hovered over the building four times before its collapse.
On Saturday, Ibekwe expressed sadness over the decision of Joshua to offer bribes to journalists rather than address the fundamental issues that led to the collapse of the building.
In the audio on his Twitter handle: @nicholasibekwe, some Nigerian journalists were heard towards the end asking those who addressed them what slant should be taken in writing the story.
A voice in the audio had told the newsmen that a provision of N770,000 had been made for them.
Ibekwe said the meeting between Joshua and the journalists took place behind closed doors at the headquarters of the church in Ikotun area of Lagos State where the building collapsed.
However, in his Twitter handle, the newsman said it was only Nigerian journalists that accepted the bribe, while their foreign counterparts turned it down.
He tweeted: “Reporting of building collapse in the Nigerian media is too kind on TB Joshua. Could this be because his doles out cash daily to reporters?”
In another tweet, Ibekwe said: “Last Sunday, I was the only journalist who turned down TB Joshua’s N50,000 bribe offered to each reporter.”
In another tweet, Ibekwe equally accused the government, especially that of Lagos State, of pussyfooting on the issue of the collapsed building.
He said the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), avoided journalists when he visited the scene of the collapsed building.
He tweeted: “I was at the #Synagogue on Sunday when Fashola visited, instead of denouncing him (Joshua) publicly, Fashola held a closed door meeting with TB Joshua.”
Listen to the audio: