At least three people were killed when
a building linked to one of the country's most
famous preachers and televangelists collapsed
in Lagos, the National Emergency Management
Agency said Friday .
The National Emergency Management Agency
(NEMA) said the building -- thought to be a
guesthouse for foreign members of TB Joshua's
The Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN)
-- came down in the city's Ikotun area.
"We have three dead. Scores of others are still
trapped. Eighteen were rescued alive and have
been taken to various hospitals," NEMA's
southwest coordinator Ibrahim Farinloye told
AFP from the scene.
TB Joshua, dubbed "The Prophet", has an
almost fanatical following among many
Nigerians and others across the world, who are
attracted by his purported healing powers and
prophecies.
Joshua preaches to massive crowds at his
megachurch in Ikotun every week and
according to his website, SCOAN "hosts
thousands of national and international
visitors" each year.
"People travel from around the world to
witness and receive from the mighty work that
God is doing in the life of Prophet TB Joshua,"
it states.
Farinloye said NEMA rescuers were joined by
their counterparts from the Lagos State
government, local police, civil defence forces
and building control officials.
Construction work had apparently started to
add extra storeys onto the two-storey building
inside the church compound when the collapse
happened, he added.
There was no immediate word about the
identity of those who died and those trapped.
SCOAN did not respond to AFP when asked for
comment.
Farinloye and an AFP photographer at the
scene said security officials attached to the
church tried to prevent rescue workers and the
media from accessing the site.
"They were attacking responders," Farinloye
said, while the photographer said television
crews had their cameras broken.
