Is TB Joshua’s anointed water the solution to the Ebola crisis?
The way he described this meeting led his delighted flock to believe that the officials had come to seek the counsel of their “man of God”. Though the contents of the official letter was never disclosed, it seems very likely that it announced the tough measures being taken against any faith healers claiming to be able to heal Ebola. The Washington post have reported that any pastor or healer claiming to be able to heal the virus will face jail time.
He next goes on to say that when the new anointed water came out, he didn’t allow it to be sent everywhere because God had revealed the coming Ebola crisis to him. He says he will donate 2000 bottles of the anointed water to each of the affected countries and if invited by the government, he will even deliver it personally and spray it everywhere.
The clear message behind his statement is that his anointed water is the solution to the Ebola crisis. We hope the Nigerian government will follow through and take the necessary action to prevent the ego of this fake pastor from exacerbating this deadly crisis.
The segment starts from around 1:50 in the following video.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/nJLfjvNJp9c?
TB Joshua suspends miracle healing sessions over Ebola killer disease
By News Express on 04/08/2014
General Overseer of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Prophet Temitope B. Joshua, has announced the suspension of his healing programmes for a few weeks as part of measures to prevent the dreaded Ebola virus from entering Nigeria.
He made the announcement yesterday while receiving a team of officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Health and the Federal Government who visited SCOAN Headquarters in Ikotun Egbe, Lagos. SCOAN is reputed for its claims of divine healing and is a popular destination for sick people from several parts of the world seeking miraculous cure.
Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, who led the delegation, said the visit was in recognition of SCOAN’s status as an international Christian congregation whose members comprise people from all over the world, including the countries of West African sub-region already affected by the Ebola disease.
The commissioner added that the visit is one of the state government’s strategies of sensitising faith-based organisations on the need to cooperate with the government to prevent the spread of the disease by educating worshippers to report health issues to medical experts.
Idris said the Federal and state governments were working hard to prevent the virus from coming into the country.
“We have our strategies that we intend to share with you. Again, we need to know the resources you have here because whether it is one or two cases, if they are allowed to get out, it is a major problem. We are here to work together on how to contain this disease,” Idris told the cleric.
Another member of the delegation and Director, Centre for Disease Control (CDC), Professor Abdulsalami Nasidi, said the visit was to inform the church’s leadership about the deadliness of the Ebola virus and to ensure that it does not enter Nigeria.
Nasidi, who is an epidemiologist and a virologist, said the meeting was a “positive engagement mission”. “We are here to engage you positively. We know the powers of this House and your powers and we are duty- bound to protect you and your congregation. We have no doubt the power God has given you; we can’t do that, but we want to help and make it work stronger,” he said.
While the delegation came short of telling the cleric not to accept victims of the disease who may want to seek healing in his church, it however made it clear that the government would do everything to ensure the disease is not imported into the country under any guise, after a Liberian government official died of the virus in a Lagos hospital. He flew into the country to attend an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) meeting in Calabar.
Professor Nasidi said the government is worried as the Synagogue congregation comprises of people from around the world.
He said government would provide technical and medical expertise to help the Synagogue team deal with any suspected Ebola case. “We have experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Musa is an expert who has all the guidelines, we have Dr. Yaunti of the UNICEF, he has all the materials to work with you, to make sure your people know how to handle Ebola.”
The experts are to work with the Committee on Technical issues and the church’s health team to “train them on how to handle this dangerous situation, pass some materials to them, share knowledge with them and if need be provide some technical materials,” Nasidi said.
The committee will also provide underground medical support to the Synagogue church laboratories to be able to diagnose the virus.
The delegation also reiterated that the Ebola disease comes from a most deadly virus which “spreads so fast from man to man especially those who come in contact with the victims, share body fluid during treatments.”
Nasidi said: “These are the areas we felt we should come and engage and work with you to ensure that members of your congregation, everybody in Lagos and Nigeria will be free of this disease.”
In his response, Prophet Joshua promised to work with the government to ensure that the disease does not spread into the country. He said he would put some measures in place to ensure people from the affected countries do not enter Nigeria.
According to the popular televangelist, one of such measures would be to visit any of the countries when necessary rather than allow their residents come into Nigeria. He would also suspend some of his church healing programmes for a few weeks. “I am ready to work with you, I love my country and I will be ready to work with you. Even if it is a rumour, there is need to secure our environment to ensure that it is safe,” Joshua said.
On the team were the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Raji, his media counterpart, Mr. Hakeem Bello, and Dr. Frank Mahoney from the CDC.
•Adapted from a nation report. Photo shows TB Joshua attempting to heal an allegedly sick lady during a church programme.
Source News Express
Posted 04/08/2014 05:34:05 AM
Nigerian official warns pastors and healers to stop making false Ebola-cure claims
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/07/31/nigerian-official-warns-pastors-and-healers-to-stop-making-false-ebola-cure-claims/
Lateef Aderemi Ibirogba, left, Lagos state commissioner for information and strategy, at a news conference with Jide Idris, the state's health commissioner. (Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)
African governments are doubling down on efforts to contain the widening Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which also involves combating rumors and falsehoods about the disease.In Nigeria, there has been only one confirmed Ebola death: A Liberian man traveling through the Lagos airport collapsed, then succumbed to the virus.
But to tackle the dangerous and potentially deadly rumor mill, a government official in Lagos state has issued a stern warning: Pastors claiming to have cured Ebola could face jail time, according to CAJ News Africa:
Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Aderemi Ibirogba, specifically advised the citizenry to be wary of the activities of alleged fraudsters who were reportedly making spurious claims about their ability to provide cure for the deadly virus.That may seem obvious, but given the continued spread of the virus, it has become necessary. Ebola is not particularly easy to contract — someone has to come in contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. But in many cases, the disease spreads further when infected people avoid medical help or seek out traditional healers.
He called on those who wanted to rip off members of the public to desist from such claims of cure or risk arrest and prosecution.
"Only medical solutions are known to be appropriate for the disease," said Ibirogba.
For example, earlier this week, a Nigerian pastor, Ituah Ighodalo, wrote a Facebook post that highlighted a "solution to Ebola!"
The post — which was factually incorrect — was focused on the story of a Canadian-American Pentecostal pastor and faith healer by the name of John G. Lake, who operated a ministry in Africa in the early 1900s.
"Several years ago, Ebola virus erupted in Africa, killing thousands without restrain or cure," Ighodalo wrote. "A great man of God by the name John G Lake came to the rescue. Laying hands on infected people who were not to be touched."
Well, not quite: As the World Health Organization helpfully notes, the Ebola virus first emerged in 1976 — 41 years after Lake's death.
Anyway, Ighodalo continued: "[W]ith bare hands, cleaning secretion and curing every victim, John G Lake along with his Holy Ghost filled team, brought to an abrupt end the spread of the deadly virus. When asked by the medical world how he did it. He had this to say: I have the life of God in me, every virus that comes in contact with me dies."
Ighodalo added: "That higher life that put out Ebola in the days of John G Lake will do the same through you in your day! At the Name of Jesus, Ebola will bow out! Stop the fear!"
And: "Let this message of hope and faith go viral and the Ebola viral spread will stop!"
Of course, there is no cure for Ebola.
Between 60 and 90 percent of people who contract the virus die; the current Ebola outbreak has claimed 729 lives in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, according to the WHO.
In a subsequent Facebook post, Ighodalo — who, according to his Facebook page, has several degrees, including a combined economics and accounting degree from the University of Hull in England — tried to walk back his previous statements.
"I am not in any way...attempting to deny the existence of the virus in Nigeria, or to encourage anyone to seek interaction with the virus, but rather to assert a superior truth that is consistent with the scriptures and stir the faith of those of us who are believers in Christ Jesus," he wrote.
While churches, healing houses and traditional healers can play a critical role by alerting public health officials to potential Ebola cases, Nigerian officials have been forced to warn them not to try healing Ebola patients themselves, according to local news reports:
Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos, Professor Abdulsalami Nasidi of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said some of the affected people with EVD in neighbouring countries might want to come to Lagos, Nigeria, where there were many healing houses that claim to have cure for diseases. ...
He explained that in regions where EVD had killed many people, some of the victims had flocked to healing houses for cure, but ended up spreading the virus, with the supposed healers contracting the deadly virus.