T.B Joshua’s burial commences, Lagos inspects facilities at Synagogue

Activities for the burial of the founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua, commences today with a candlelight procession from 6 pm, but this will be a private service.

On July 6 and 7, there will be a tribute service from 10a.m. to 7:00 p.m. It will be open to the public but with limited seats.

The Guardian gathered that there would also be a service of songs/all night praise from 12.00 midnight, which is open to the public.

On July 8, there will be a lying-in-state service from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. This will be open to the public to pay their last respects. Interment is to be held on July 9 on the premises of SCOAN, while thanksgiving service will follow at the church on July 11.

MEANWHILE, a delegation from the Lagos State Government led by the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, and the Director-General of the Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr. Lanre Mojola, visited SCOAN at the weekend to inspect facilities at the church for COVID-19 safety and prevention protocols compliance in preparation for the funeral of the late founder of the church.

Speaking after the inspection of the church facilities and meeting with the church officials, Abayomi said the inspection was in line with the third wave mitigation strategy of the Lagos State Government to prevent importation and spread of new deadly strains of COVID-19 into Lagos and
Nigeria.

While noting that the late prophet was a prominent person with a large congregation and followers from around the world, the commissioner said the funeral rites would expectedly attract people from within and outside Nigeria.

He explained that the Lagos State Government considers the funeral activities at SCOAN an important event enough to ensure strict compliance to COVID-19 safety protocols to prevent the importation, transmission or spread of the new deadly strains of COVID infection to the state or country.

Abayomi added that the inspection and meeting with officials of SCOAN was at the behest of the Lagos State Governor who directed that SCOAN be given all the support required to host the funeral programme for its late founder under strict COVID-19 prevention protocol to limit possibilities of introduction of foreign COVID-19 variants among the congregation and by extension to the community.

The team from the state government, which also included the Incident Manager of the Emergency Operation Centre of Lagos COVID-19 Response, Dr. Ismail Abdul Salam, members of the Lagos State Ministry of Health Biosecurity team, officials of the Lagos State Safety Commission and representatives of the Federal Ministry of Health’s Port Health Services, inspected the auditorium, marquee tent, hostel accommodation for international guests and sanitary facilities during the inspection.