T.B. Joshua to host New Year memorial service for victims

oge okonkwo

December 31, 2014 6:55 PM

SCOAN's spokesman Patrick Iwelumor, said prophet Joshua flew 44 South Africans to Lagos to attend the ceremony

Founder of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), T.B. Joshua will host a New Year's memorial service for the South African relatives of the victims of the September 12 collapse.

SCOAN's spokesman Patrick Iwelumor, said prophet Joshua flew 44 South Africans to Lagos to attend the ceremony following the disaster which killed 116 people, including 81 South Africans.

Iwelumor in a statement said that prophet Joshua “is going to lead the service to commiserate and offer spiritual support.”

“As the chief mourner, there is a need for (Joshua) to connect with these people,” he added.

Wednesday’s candle light ceremony will begin at sundown and last through midnight, Iwelumor said.

The victim’s relatives were reported to have arrived in Nigeria on Christmas Day and Joshua is said to have paid for their travel.

When the trip was announced earlier this month, some South Africans took to social media to condemn Joshua’s move as a bribe aimed at discouraging relatives from filing a lawsuit over the deaths.

But SCOAN’s South Africa based spokesman, Kirsten Nematandani, has said the trip and New Year’s memorial service are about “the spirit of caring”.

oge okonkwo