He was the leader and founder of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN),[2] a Christian megachurch that runs the Emmanuel TV television station from Lagos, Nigeria.

Joshua was widely known across Africa and Latin America and Investigated by BBC News [3][4] and had a large social media presence with over six million fans on Facebook.

[8] Joshua was awarded various accolades, notably receiving the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) by the Nigerian government in 2008[9] and being voted the Yoruba man of the decade by Pan-Yoruba media outlet Irohin-Odua.

[36] Figures released by the Nigerian Immigration Service indicated that six out of every ten foreigners entering Nigeria are bound for SCOAN,[37] a fact discussed in Zimbabwean parliament when addressing the economic potentials of religious tourism.

[40] Joshua's contribution to Nigeria's religious tourism was highlighted[41] when the cleric hinted at the possibility of relocating his ministry to Israel during a Sunday service.

[47] Joshua's two-day visit to Estadio Monumental "U" in Lima, Peru, attracted nearly 100,000 in September 2016, making headlines in local Peruvian media.

[52][53][54] In June 2019, Joshua held a two-day event at the Amphitheatre of Mount Precipice in Nazareth, Israel, the historic hometown of Jesus Christ.

[58] There is a rehabilitation programme for militants from Nigeria's volatile Niger Delta region, repentant armed robbers[59] and sex workers who came to the church for 'deliverance'.

[68] After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Joshua sent a team of medical personnel and humanitarian workers to the affected area, establishing a field hospital called 'Clinique Emmanuel'.

[71] Several groups of Nigerians attempting illegal travel to Europe through Libya have been supported at SCOAN following their deportation from the North African nation with only the clothes on their backs.

[81] He was further honoured as an Ambassador of Peace by the Arewa Youth Forum, a predominantly Muslim organisation,[82] as well as being recognised with an 'award of excellence' by ZAKA, Israel's primary rescue and recovery voluntary service.

Joshua was a regular visitor to Ghana during Mills' early presidency and allegedly organised "prayer warriors" praying in Osu Castle.

[88][89] Joshua played the role of a peacemaker in the aftermath of the Tanzanian elections in 2015, visiting the country to meet and hold reconciliatory talks with President John Magufuli – a member of his church – and opposition leader Edward Lowassa.

[94] He led Mayardit and his cabinet in prayers for peace at the nation's Presidential Palace in Juba and called on leaders to overcome their differences in a message broadcast on South Sudan's state television.

[95] Some South Sudanese believed that Joshua had given a "prophecy" of the subsequent unity government formed in February 2020 between Mayardit and rival leader Riek Machar.

[6][99] In January 2024, days after Joshua's sexual abuse scandal was revealed, Emmanuel TV's satellite channel was removed from DStv by MultiChoice, a South African media company as well as from YouTube for a second time.

[31] Former church insiders estimate that he received tens of millions of dollars from fundraising, pilgrims, sales of videos, and appearances at stadiums full of followers.

[103] Nigeria's Premium Times newspaper stated that Joshua formed a company called Chillon Consultancy Limited, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands in June 2006, based on reports stemming from the Panama Papers leak.

[109] In 2010, Cameroon's foreign minister Henri Eyebe Ayissi termed Joshua a "son of the devil pretending to be a man of God" and advised hundreds of Cameroonians not to take a planned pilgrimage to Lagos, where several others had been left without accommodation.

[111] In 2011, the BBC reported that at least three people in London with HIV died after they stopped taking life saving drugs on the advice of evangelical Christian pastors.

[120][121] SCOAN itself condemned the BBC for "descending into fictional narratives and propaganda, thus turning itself into a weapon for a hatchet job as gangsters in the gab of journalism with a destructive ulterior motive for personal gains against a perceived enemy".

[134][135] In 2013, four people died in a stampede in Joshua's Ghanaian branch when an unadvertised service in which the water was being distributed drew huge crowds that exceeded the church's capacity.

Strange occurrences have been reported during these deliverance prayers, including the case of a South African girl who allegedly cried blood[141] and a Liberian man who began behaving like a dog.

[145] After deliverance, those involved often confess the atrocities which the evil spirit allegedly pushed them to engage in, such as prostitution,[146] armed robbery,[147] internet fraud[148] and human trafficking.

[154] A video of Kenyan Olympic athlete Mercy Cherono receiving deliverance through Joshua's prayers attracted widespread attention in Kenya.

[156] Joshua's church claimed that he prophesied the Garissa University College attack in Kenya,[157] Ouagadougou hotel siege in Burkina Faso,[158] and the 2016 Brussels bombings.

SCOAN claimed that Joshua had predicted the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370,[164] releasing a YouTube video that amassed over 1 million views.

[166] False rumors spread using Joshua's name are known to have caused widespread panic in communities,[167][168] affected sporting events,[169] music concerts[170] and led people to stop using social networks.

After Donald Trump won instead, Joshua stated that his "prophecy" referred to Clinton's win in the popular vote and any misinterpretation was due to a lack of "spiritual understanding".

[175] A video of Joshua predicting "the military" of an undisclosed Southern African nation embarrassing, killing or capturing "a President or Vice-President ... or the First Lady of that nation‚" surfaced on social media after the statement, which was made and recorded in August 2014, was interpreted as a prophecy of the 2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état against Robert Mugabe.