TB Joshua, the Nigerian megachurch pastor, has died unexpectedly at the age of 57.
Joshua, founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos, Nigeria, passed away on Sunday after feeling unwell during an evening church service.
The pastor, who was designated a prophet by his followers, died at home a few hours after taking ill.
His death came just six days before his 58th birthday.
"God has taken His servant Prophet TB Joshua home – as it should be by divine will," the church said on Facebook.
"His last moments on earth were spent in the service of God. This is what he was born for, lived for and died for. As Prophet TB Joshua says, 'The greatest way to use life is to spend it on something that will outlive it.'"
Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari issued a statement of condolence in which he told Joshua's followers to "take solace in the knowledge that life is not measured and defined by chronological longevity but by enduring legacies and lives touched positively."
Joshua was a controversial pastor, with his preaching of prosperity sermons and claims of performing miracles.
But controversies took on more temporal forms too. He was indicted for criminal negligence in 2015 over the collapse of a building in the church complex the previous year in which 116 worshippers died.
And earlier this year, YouTube pulled his channel because of a video in which he claimed to have cured gay members of his congregation.
