Latest news with #TBJoshua
Daily Mail
16-07-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Constance Marten's 'life was ruined' by joining a Nigerian religious cult that beat women with horsewhips and whose leader required followers to call him daddy
Following Constance Marten and Mark Gordon's convictions for the gross negligence manslaughter of their baby daughter Victoria, the Mail has released exclusive podcasts revealing never-before-heard details about the couple. This second episode follows Constance's life story, from her multimillionaire father leaving the family to live in a truck in Australia to her induction into a religious cult based in Lagos, Nigeria. The cult was called SCOAN (The Synagogue Church of All Nations) and its leader, TB Joshua, targeted the UK for new, wealthy recruits by infiltrating Evangelical churches in the south of England. Through her connections to one of these churches, Constance's mother, Virginia, was persuaded to travel to Nigeria with her daughter to the sect's compound in 2006. Virginia believed TB Joshua, who styled himself in internet videos as a miracle healer, could rid her daughter of her 'rebellious spirits'. Speaking to Trial Plus hosts Caroline Cheetham and Jack Hardy, author Matthew McNaught, who wrote a book about the cult and its abuse of British recruits, described how SCOAN operated and how Marten became affiliated with it. 'I became interested in SCOAN because I grew up in an Evangelical Church in Winchester called Emmanuel', McNaught told the podcast. 'Some church members came across this ministry in Nigeria – there were videos being sent around for publicity. They were incredibly graphic, very dramatic videos showing seemingly incredible things. 'I was very sceptical of TB Joshua from the start – the videos were so extreme and gross. You would see sores and bare breasts, gore and nudity that was incredibly hard to watch. 'As soon as people started becoming disciples – their personalities began to change. They withdrew from old friendships and people within my church started to become suspicious. 'Constance was in Lagos for six months. She got in contact with me in 2013 after I wrote a blog detailing TB Joshua's abuse. Her experience was the same as many others I had spoken too. 'She had gone out there a passionate, young Christian and had been pulled into this horrible community and dynamic. 'I believe she left because she had offended TB Joshua in some way, she was essentially kicked out. 'She told me she struggled for a long time afterwards and that she was keen to reconnect with those who had a similar experience. 'In my conversations with her, she came across really well… she wanted to help people to break through the isolation people suffered after being SCOAN. It feels sad to see that her life has taken this turn.' On Monday, Marten and her lover Mark Gordon were convicted of killing their daughter, Victoria, after going on the run to stop her being taken into care. They will be sentenced for gross negligence manslaughter on September 15. Bisola Johnson, who was close to the cult's leader and interacted with Constance Marten during the socialite's time in Nigeria, described some of the worst abuses of the organisation. Bisola described herself as TB Joshua's 'right-hand woman' who feels deep regret for her role in his regime of terror. She said: 'I worked as a video editor for SCOAN for many years. I was only there for about a week before TB Joshua invited me to his room and introduced sex to me. 'Most young girls there would visit his bedroom. People were called out of the dormitory at midnight to sleep with him or massage him as he lay there naked. 'There was verbal and emotional abuse. We would be beaten with horse whips if we didn't do something right. It was like a concentration camp. 'If you argued, you'd be ostracised – you'd not be given food, no one wanted to talk to you. It was mental torture. 'Constance got in contact with me in 2013, she said something had happened to her in SCOAN. Everybody had depression after leaving the group. You couldn't believe you'd accepted such mental torture. 'I wanted to help her, but I couldn't because she threatened to return with a body camera. I was afraid for her… she said she'd contact Al Jazeera. Before she even called them, I knew her body would disappear, and I didn't want to be involved in that.' From his investigation into Marten's time in SCOAN, co-host Jack Hardy provided insight into the psychological damage the experience had on her. 'It's clear it completely shattered her', Hardy said. 'One friend who spoke to us told us she always used to be wild, but also happy, kind and buoyant. 'When she came back, she was darker – she found things more difficult. Another friend we spoke to put things more bluntly, TB Joshua ruined her life.' To listen to the bombshell episode in full, subscribe to The Crime Desk, the home of arresting podcasts from The Daily Mail.
Times
15-07-2025
- Times
Constance Marten wanted to expose ‘cult that broke her'
Constance Marten told a friend she wanted to return to the cult that 'broke' her in order to expose it for a documentary. Marten, 38, who on Monday was convicted of killing her baby, joined the Christian preacher TB Joshua's Synagogue Church of All Nations in Nigeria (Scoan) as a 19-year-old in 2006. Angie, a fellow disciple who shared a dormitory with her, told the BBC that the church was 'a place of torture, psychological abuse, physical abuse, spiritual abuse, and sexual abuse' under Joshua's leadership. Marten was thrown out of Scoan after four months, with Joshua telling others that she was a 'CIA spy'. On Monday Marten was found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter following the death of her baby Victoria. The baby died while Marten and her partner Mark Gordon spent weeks on the run in fear that the authorities would take the child away after social services took her previous four children into care. After leaving the church and graduating from university, Marten worked as a researcher at the Al Jazeera news channel, where she tried to make a documentary about Scoan — a project she mentioned in messages sent to Angie in early 2013. 'I really want this film to give an understanding to viewers of how cults work, and the very subtle manipulation that happens, so subtle that you can't even notice it,' Marten wrote. She said Joshua's 'hoodwinking of innocent people' must 'come into the light'. • Who is the real Constance Marten? A life that led to tragedy Bisola Hephzibah Johnson, another former disciple, told the BBC that she persuaded Marten not to return to Scoan in 2013 to carry out secret filming for her documentary because it would be too dangerous. In further messages to Angie, she wrote: 'I haven't spoken to anyone about what happened at the synagogue. All my university friends are secular, and if I told them about what I'd seen in Lagos, they'd think I was lying or mad!' Marten said she had tried to deal with what she experienced 'silently and with a lot of confusion'. 'It's taken me years to get back to normal,' she wrote. She said it would be a great help 'both emotionally and spiritually' to talk to Angie, who replied and later met Marten twice. Angie said: 'It's no wonder she just ended up distrusting normal institutions, because clearly something broke within her at some point.' Marten, and Gordon, 51, went on the run with their daughter Victoria in early 2023 after their four other children were taken into care. Police had launched a nationwide hunt after their car burst into flames on the motorway near Bolton, Greater Manchester. • Constance Marten's partner says couple are victims of racism The couple travelled across England and went off grid, sleeping in a tent on the South Downs where baby Victoria died. After seven weeks on the run, the defendants were arrested in Brighton, East Sussex. Following a desperate search, police found their baby dead amid rubbish inside a Lidl bag in a disused shed nearby. They will be sentenced at a later date.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Yahoo
Constance Marten spent months at 'torture' church, friend tells BBC
Constance Marten was a disciple of infamous Christian preacher, TB Joshua, who was accused of rape and violence in a BBC News investigation. Marten spent four months at Joshua's Synagogue Church of All Nations in Nigeria as a teenager. A fellow disciple, who knew Marten when she was at the church, told the BBC it was "a place of torture" and sexual assault. The BBC has no reason to believe Marten was subjected to any abuse there. Marten, 38, has been found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter following the death of her baby, Victoria. Warning: This story contains descriptions of physical and sexual abuse Now the retrial is over BBC News can report Marten, who comes from an aristocratic family with royal connections, was a disciple at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (Scoan) from September 2006, when she was aged 19. She lived at a compound while at Scoan, one of the world's biggest Christian evangelical churches. The BBC Eye investigation, published last year, found evidence of widespread abuse and torture by Joshua. A televangelist who had an immense global following, Joshua died in 2021. As part of the investigation, dozens of former members alleged atrocities by Joshua, including rape and forced abortions, spanning almost 20 years. Marten was taken to Scoan by her mother, Virginie De Selliers, after leaving school. She remained in Lagos, Nigeria, to become a disciple when her mother returned to the UK. Speaking to the BBC, Angie said she shared a dormitory with Marten while the pair were at the church. "It's no wonder she just ended up distrusting normal institutions - because clearly, something broke within her at some point," she said. Joshua had a worldwide following among some evangelical Christians thanks to videos of his "miracles" posted online by the church. After meeting him, people in wheelchairs were seen to walk again, and people with HIV and Aids showed off certificates saying they had been "cured". However, the BBC Eye investigation revealed those videos had been faked and found how disciples had been discouraged from contacting their families, deprived of sleep, forced to denounce one another, and sometimes physically assaulted by Joshua - a man they called "Daddy". One woman told the investigation it was her role to recruit teenage female visitors as live-in disciples, because Joshua liked to prey on them, especially virgins. Other interviewees said they were stripped and beaten with electrical cables and horse whips. Scoan did not respond to allegations in the BBC investigation but has said previous claims were unfounded. "Making unfounded allegations against Prophet TB Joshua is not a new occurrence… None of the allegations was ever substantiated," it wrote. Angie, who was a Scoan disciple for 10 years, recalls Marten as being "bright, witty, compassionate, funny, kind, and very independent". She told the BBC how the church was "a place of torture, psychological abuse, physical abuse, spiritual abuse, and sexual abuse" under Joshua's leadership. Angie said: "I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone and I feel very sad that she [Marten] was taken there in the first place." Unlike some Scoan disciples, who remained under Joshua's control for years, Marten was thrown out after a few months and returned to the UK, where she went to Leeds University to study for a degree in Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies. But messages seen by BBC News suggest she was still affected by her experiences in Nigeria years later. In October 2012, she got in touch with Angie via Facebook Messenger. "I haven't spoken to anyone about what happened at the synagogue," Marten wrote. "All my university friends are secular, and if I told them about what I'd seen in Lagos, they'd think I was lying or mad!" Marten wrote about how TB Joshua had abruptly thrown her out of the church and explained that, for years, she thought it was her fault. She said she didn't want to acknowledge Joshua was effectively running what she and others felt was a cult at the time. Marten said she had tried to deal with what she experienced "silently and with a lot of confusion". "It's taken me years to get back to normal," she wrote. She said it would be a great help "both emotionally and spiritually" to talk to Angie, who replied and later met Marten twice. In another message, Marten said she couldn't talk about her experiences with her mother, who BBC News understands continued to donate small sums to the church at the time, prior to allegations about Joshua surfacing. "I honestly think that she needed help back then and that she needs help now," Angie said of Marten. "I feel extremely sad to see what has happened subsequently." "The story that I see is very different from what you see on the headlines. The story that I see is a young girl who was taken to an awful place, was broken down, doesn't understand what happened to her, and is therefore unable to process what's happening to her now. She really, really needs help." For Angie it has been difficult to watch how events have unfolded for her former friend. "My heart breaks for her because I don't wish this on anyone - at the same time I wish I could shake her," she added. Marten's first job after leaving university was as a researcher at the Al Jazeera news channel, where she tried to make a documentary about TB Joshua's megachurch - a project she mentioned in messages sent to Angie in early 2013. "I really want this film to give an understanding to viewers of how cults work, and the very subtle manipulation that happens, so subtle that you can't even notice it," Marten wrote. She said Joshua's "hoodwinking of innocent people" must "come into the light". Bisola Hephzibah Johnson, another former disciple, told the BBC she persuaded Marten not to return to Scoan in 2013 to carry out secret filming for her documentary, saying it would be too dangerous. She says everyone who spent time at Scoan has been deeply affected by their experiences there. "Some cannot until today co-ordinate their lives," she said. The last message Angie received from Marten was in September 2014. Marten and her husband Mark Gordon were found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter on Monday, following the death of their baby daughter, Victoria. At an earlier trial, which ended last year, they were found guilty of child cruelty, concealing a birth of their daughter and perverting the course of justice. That trial heard Marten and Gordon, 51, were "arrogant" and "selfish individuals" who were in a toxic relationship. Their baby had been "neglected and exposed to dangerous conditions", the trial heard. The BBC approached Constance Marten's mother, Virginie de Selliers, for comment but she did not respond.
BBC News
15-07-2025
- BBC News
Constance Marten spent months at 'torture' church, friend tells BBC
Constance Marten was a disciple of infamous Christian preacher, TB Joshua, who was accused of rape and violence in a BBC News spent four months at Joshua's Synagogue Church of All Nations in Nigeria as a teenager.A fellow disciple, who knew Marten when she was at the church, told the BBC it was "a place of torture" and sexual assault. The BBC has no reason to believe Marten was subjected to any abuse 38, has been found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter following the death of her baby, This story contains descriptions of physical and sexual abuse Now the retrial is over BBC News can report Marten, who comes from an aristocratic family with royal connections, was a disciple at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (Scoan) from September 2006, when she was aged lived at a compound while at Scoan, one of the world's biggest Christian evangelical BBC Eye investigation, published last year, found evidence of widespread abuse and torture by Joshua. A televangelist who had an immense global following, Joshua died in part of the investigation, dozens of former members alleged atrocities by Joshua, including rape and forced abortions, spanning almost 20 was taken to Scoan by her mother, Virginie De Selliers, after leaving school. She remained in Lagos, Nigeria, to become a disciple when her mother returned to the to the BBC, Angie said she shared a dormitory with Marten while the pair were at the church."It's no wonder she just ended up distrusting normal institutions - because clearly, something broke within her at some point," she said. Joshua had a worldwide following among some evangelical Christians thanks to videos of his "miracles" posted online by the church. After meeting him, people in wheelchairs were seen to walk again, and people with HIV and Aids showed off certificates saying they had been "cured".However, the BBC Eye investigation revealed those videos had been faked and found how disciples had been discouraged from contacting their families, deprived of sleep, forced to denounce one another, and sometimes physically assaulted by Joshua - a man they called "Daddy".One woman told the investigation it was her role to recruit teenage female visitors as live-in disciples, because Joshua liked to prey on them, especially virgins. Other interviewees said they were stripped and beaten with electrical cables and horse whips. Scoan did not respond to allegations in the BBC investigation but has said previous claims were unfounded."Making unfounded allegations against Prophet TB Joshua is not a new occurrence… None of the allegations was ever substantiated," it wrote. Angie, who was a Scoan disciple for 10 years, recalls Marten as being "bright, witty, compassionate, funny, kind, and very independent".She told the BBC how the church was "a place of torture, psychological abuse, physical abuse, spiritual abuse, and sexual abuse" under Joshua's said: "I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone and I feel very sad that she [Marten] was taken there in the first place."Unlike some Scoan disciples, who remained under Joshua's control for years, Marten was thrown out after a few months and returned to the UK, where she went to Leeds University to study for a degree in Arabic and Middle Eastern messages seen by BBC News suggest she was still affected by her experiences in Nigeria years later. In October 2012, she got in touch with Angie via Facebook Messenger."I haven't spoken to anyone about what happened at the synagogue," Marten wrote. "All my university friends are secular, and if I told them about what I'd seen in Lagos, they'd think I was lying or mad!"Marten wrote about how TB Joshua had abruptly thrown her out of the church and explained that, for years, she thought it was her fault. She said she didn't want to acknowledge Joshua was effectively running what she and others felt was a cult at the said she had tried to deal with what she experienced "silently and with a lot of confusion". "It's taken me years to get back to normal," she said it would be a great help "both emotionally and spiritually" to talk to Angie, who replied and later met Marten twice. In another message, Marten said she couldn't talk about her experiences with her mother, who BBC News understands continued to donate small sums to the church at the time, prior to allegations about Joshua surfacing."I honestly think that she needed help back then and that she needs help now," Angie said of Marten. "I feel extremely sad to see what has happened subsequently.""The story that I see is very different from what you see on the headlines. The story that I see is a young girl who was taken to an awful place, was broken down, doesn't understand what happened to her, and is therefore unable to process what's happening to her now. She really, really needs help."For Angie it has been difficult to watch how events have unfolded for her former friend. "My heart breaks for her because I don't wish this on anyone - at the same time I wish I could shake her," she added. Marten's first job after leaving university was as a researcher at the Al Jazeera news channel, where she tried to make a documentary about TB Joshua's megachurch - a project she mentioned in messages sent to Angie in early 2013."I really want this film to give an understanding to viewers of how cults work, and the very subtle manipulation that happens, so subtle that you can't even notice it," Marten said Joshua's "hoodwinking of innocent people" must "come into the light".Bisola Hephzibah Johnson, another former disciple, told the BBC she persuaded Marten not to return to Scoan in 2013 to carry out secret filming for her documentary, saying it would be too says everyone who spent time at Scoan has been deeply affected by their experiences there. "Some cannot until today co-ordinate their lives," she last message Angie received from Marten was in September 2014. Marten and her husband Mark Gordon were found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter on Monday, following the death of their baby daughter, an earlier trial, which ended last year, they were found guilty of child cruelty, concealing a birth of their daughter and perverting the course of trial heard Marten and Gordon, 51, were "arrogant" and "selfish individuals" who were in a toxic relationship. Their baby had been "neglected and exposed to dangerous conditions", the trial BBC approached Constance Marten's mother, Virginie de Selliers, for comment but she did not respond.
