Posted on 11/10/2014 9:23:44 AM PST by Gamecock
Full Title: "Nigeria: Megachurch Pastor “TB Joshua” Followers believe a C-130 Hercules Military plane flying at low Altitude may have dropped Explosives on the Church Building"
Followers of Megachurch owner and Pastor “TB Joshua” believe it is possible that a C-130 Hercules military cargo plane flying at low altitude dropped explosives on a guesthouse at Nigerian pastor TB Joshua’s Megachurch, killing 116 people inside? That depends on who you ask. Joshua, a self-proclaimed prophet, failed to show up Wednesday at a coroner’s inquest into the causes of the September 12 collapse at the building in the grounds of his Lagos church.
But conspiracy theorists committed to absolving “The Man of God” of any wrong doing came out in their droves, offering a range of possible causes, even if consensus was hard to come by. “We are not ruling anything out,” said Moses Onyegu, 29, and a member of a body he called the Group of Concerned Students, which believes the deadly collapse is part of an elaborate plot to spark Joshua’s “downfall.”
Onyegu has latched on to claims that a mysterious aircraft was hovering above the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) compound in the minutes preceding the tragedy. “The plane in the first place was not an ordinary air plane,” said Onyegu, from southern Delta state. “According to write-ups on the Internet, it was a C-130 Hercules jet,” he told AFP outside the court.
The suspicious aircraft theory first emerged days after the disaster when Joshua’s staff released video footage of a plane they said was circulating above the guesthouse. Expert witnesses at the Lagos state inquest ruled out the theory of aerial sabotage or an explosion and the court has been told that the guesthouse did not have any planning permission. Onyegu was among several dozen Joshua followers outside the Lagos courthouse to support “The Prophet” in case he decided to appear.
All stressed the immense popularity and charitable work of the pastor and televangelist, who has followers across Africa and abroad, and their mistrust of official versions of events. For them, whatever truly happened, Joshua was not to blame. “In Nigeria, we have fifth columnists,” said Oloja Olanrewaju, who identified himself as the secretary general of a group called the National Association of Nigerian Students.
He declined to offer a specific theory for the collapse, not wanting to pre-empt the inquest’s findings, but suggested that “shadow stakeholders who benefit indirectly from any crisis” may have been involved. Like Onyegu, he noted the importance of “the sort of air plane or helicopter” allegedly spotted above the church. Nasir Lawal, who was born a Muslim but converted to Christianity and is now a passionate Joshua follower, pointed the finger at Islamist group Boko Haram.
“They might be motivated by the fact that they don’t want Christians in Nigeria,” said the 35 year old leader of a youth group in south-western Ondo state. Also noting the plane theory, he indicated that Boko Haram may have the capacity to send a military aircraft to Lagos, several thousand kilometres from its northeastern stronghold. The Islamists have killed thousands in a five year uprising, including scores of church attacks, but they are not known to have access to aircraft.
A row of news cameras lined the entrance to the hearing room in anticipation of Joshua’s arrival, with idle Nigerian reporters swapping guesses as to whether one of the country’s most prominent and richest pastors would show up. Joshua’s lawyer, Olalekan Ojo, told the inquest that his client did not honour the court summons because he did not personally receive a written notice requiring his appearance.
But Joshua’s supporters said his no show came as a relief, because questioning from civilian investigators would have been an insult to “The Prophet”. “Bringing The Man of God down to this court is not very comfortable for me,” said 21 year old Precious Enegide.
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When I first saw this post I was ready to stand up and cheer, until I realized it wasn’t about Joel Osteen.
Was this in Philly?
A C-130? Dropping a bomb from on of those would have less accuracy than a WWII bomber.
Everybody KNOWS Americans (which means white people) hate Africans (which means black people), and only Americans have C-130’s and bombs and they hate obola ... sooooo .....
Brings back memories of Viet Nam and Nixon.
That would not be an ordinary aircraft, indeed.
IIRC, the C-130 is a turboprop with no hover capability.
Shrug, maybe it was a Osprey.
But conspiracy theorists committed to absolving “The Man of God” of any wrong doing came out in their droves, offering a range of possible causes, even if consensus was hard to come by. “We are not ruling anything out,” said Moses Onyegu, 29, and a member of a body he called the Group of Concerned Students, which believes the deadly collapse is part of an elaborate plot to spark Joshua’s “downfall.” Onyegu has latched on to claims that a mysterious aircraft was hovering above the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) compound in the minutes preceding the tragedy. “The plane in the first place was not an ordinary air plane,” said Onyegu, from southern Delta state. “According to write-ups on the Internet, it was a C-130 Hercules jet,” he told AFP outside the court.
Here is your C-130 Hercules "jet"...
Still not a jet, but a propeller aircraft.
C-130’s do not hover, I do not think I would describe it as a jet either and it would not hang around for minutes before and after a strike either.
Maybe the guest house collapsed because there were 116 people inside?
Now granted these are for takeoff...
C-130’s are in use by about 72 countries that Wiki can determine, including the Nigerian government.
jet? Neither is the 130. Unless if its a modified super stol.
I was quite impressed to watch Fat Albert “leap” into the sky a few years back.
Those are rockets. Fuel and oxidizer are both contained in the bottle.
OK ... I’m just being in a pissy mood today.
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