The dismissal comes after several weeks of investigation by Open Democracy and the BBC, which turned up evidence of widespread s3xual abuse and torture associated with the divisive preacher.

TB Joshua’s global ascent from humble pastor to well-known televangelist was greatly aided by Emmanuel TV, which amassed over 500k subscribers and hundreds of millions of views on YouTube. The channel has already been suspended once before for breaking community rules, which resulted in a three-year temporary shutdown.

The church, which is currently led by TB Joshua’s wife Evelyn Joshua, has not formally commented on the expulsion, but it has in the past called accusations of misconduct “unfounded.”