In the midst of the controversy surrounding the SCOAN building collapse, another new but damning information has popped up, presented by an investigative reporter, Nicholas Ibekwe.
Ibekwe was amongst the reporters that visited the synagogue after the tragic incident that has taken over ninety lives so far.
He claims that T.B Joshua offered him and his colleagues N50.000 each when they visited the site. However, unlike the other reporters, Ibekwe refused the ‘brown envelope’ offered and has taken to Twitter to air his displeasure and disappointment over how the entire tragedy is being handled by SCOAN, the government and the press at large.
His tweets on the tragedy began on September the 14th. He first tweeted that reporters were not allowed at the site of the collapsed building.Members of Synagogue Church are stopping reporters from doing our jobs here. What is the church hiding?
The govt has a way of dealing with cases of collapse buildings. why are they not applying it in #synagogue‘s case. Why wait for documents?
— Nicholas Ibekwe (@nicholasibekwe) September 20, 2014
Those of you saying the govt is adopting tact, I say rubbish. This selective “tact”. Over 90 lives were destroyed & you’re asking 4 tact.
Nigerian journalists habitually collects money at press conferences and events. They call it “brown envelop”. I call it bribe! — Nicholas Ibekwe (@nicholasibekwe) September 20, 2014
—>“@nicholasibekwe: And for those of asking for prove. I’ve audio proof of TB Joshua telling reporters he’s got N50,000 each from them.”
— Clayson Monyela (@ClaysonMonyela) September 20, 2014
And finally, he tweeted the proof of the ‘bribe’ offered to the journalists. In the recording, when the reporters asked for an official statement, T.B Joshua is heard replying them, saying “which official statement you want me to give?” Towards the end of the recording, he is also heard asking them what they were going to report and they responded with laughter. It seemed like a light-hearted conversation between him and the reporters but in the end, no official press release was given. Listen to the recording below. You might need earphones to enhance the sound.
“@nicholasibekwe: Audio Proof https://t.co/SQ8ALTfJtn via @audioboo #synagogue” SMH @alexeliseev — Irene Nkwadi (@irene4usall) September 20, 2014