The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has faulted reports linking a placard he carried during a 2020 prayer walk to a protest against former President Goodluck Jonathan, insisting that the incident occurred five years after Jonathan left office.
Adeboye, who spoke to his congregation on Sunday during the church’s November Thanksgiving service in Lagos, accused journalists of misrepresenting his past actions and statements by removing them from their original contexts.
He said the placard incident occurred during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that the prayer walk was organised to express concern over insecurity and killings across the country.
The cleric said some reports had wrongly presented the incident as an action against Jonathan’s government, despite the fact that Jonathan left office in May 2015.
“Recently, just one mischievous somebody wrote in the papers, or said somehow, ‘Pastor Adeboye is a very wicked man. After all, we know that not too long ago, he carried a placard against President Goodluck Jonathan,’” the pastor said.
Adeboye said he initially smiled when he heard about the report, explaining that although he carried a placard, it was not during Jonathan’s administration.
He said the incident took place in 2020, under Buhari, during a prayer walk organised by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
On February 2, 2020, Adeboye led members of the RCCG on a prayer walk in Lagos to protest killings and insecurity across the country.
The exercise followed a three-day fasting and prayer programme declared by CAN to seek divine intervention over terrorism and other security challenges.
Reports published at the time said the procession began at the RCCG national headquarters in Ebute Meta, Lagos, proceeded towards Atan Cemetery in Yaba and returned to the church.
Photographs from the exercise showed Adeboye carrying a placard bearing the inscription, “All Souls Are Precious to God.”
The cleric said the exercise was part of a nationwide prayer walk directed by CAN, which asked churches to organise similar activities in their respective locations.
“I carried a plcard five years in the second term of Buhari But, a journalist twisted and said, I did what I did in 2015,” the cleric said.
He recalled that photographs of him carrying the placard were circulated, creating the impression that he had participated in a political protest against Jonathan.
Adeboye maintained that the exercise was a religious activity in Ebute Meta, Lagos, and not a political demonstration.
He also accused journalists of failing to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident before publishing reports, recalling lessons on investigative journalism from his time at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in the 1960s.
The cleric said he took courses outside his faculty while at the university, including Journalism 101, where he learnt that appearances could be misleading and that journalists should investigate stories before publication.
“Things don’t appear as they may seem. Investigate, if you have a story, before you take it to the press, you investigate it,” he said.
Adeboye also faulted reports of his remarks on Nigeria’s security situation and comments concerning United States President Donald Trump’s threat of military action against the country.
He said he spoke for about 30 minutes during an engagement with some highly placed Americans but alleged that a journalist extracted less than five minutes of his remarks and presented them as his entire position.
“I spoke for 30 minutes. I won’t want to use the word mischievous. Somebody took what I said, in less than 5 minutes, as if it is the whole speech,” Adeboye said.
He said he had defended the Federal Government’s response to the abduction of some children in Orile, expressing confidence that they would be rescued alive because he had prayed and received assurances from God that none of them would die.
He also explained that his comments about Trump and President Bola Tinubu had been taken out of context.
According to Adeboye, he argued that Tinubu, like Trump, had given instructions to security commanders and should not be blamed for the abductions simply because he was not personally involved in the rescue operation.
“I said, our president has told his officers, go and get these children out. I said, once Trump finished giving his order, he went to bed. I said, don’t blame my president.
“He has already given instructions to his soldiers. He should be allowed, also, like Trump, to go to bed. That is required of a commander-in-chief to do,” the cleric said.
Adeboye, however, said he had also told the Americans that while he appreciated Trump’s willingness to assist Nigeria, the proposed military intervention would not be sufficient to address the country’s security challenges.
He said he appealed to the US President not to bomb Nigeria but to help the country deal with those sponsoring terrorism.
The cleric expressed disappointment that reports focused on his defence of Tinubu but left out his appeal for further American assistance and his position on the proposed military action.
He said the omission gave the impression that he opposed American intervention, whereas he had called for support against those financing terrorism.
Adeboye said the media had failed to give the public the full context of his remarks, adding that reports based on selected portions of speeches could create misleading impressions.
He said, “When I said, President of America, thank you, you have helped us, but you have not done enough.
“We still need help. But don’t bomb us anymore. I said that, that’s not news.
“I don’t want Nigeria to hear that. If you want to help us, help us take care of those who are sponsoring terrorism, that’s not news. Don’t write that one.
He added, “God have mercy on journalists.”
