US EMBASSY, BOVI DEBUNK THISDAY STORY ON US VISA DENIAL FOR BISHOP OYEDEPO

Bishop David Oyedepo 

The US Embassy in Nigeria has denied earlier reports originally published by Thisday Newspapers and reproduced by other national dailies, claiming that the Lagos Consulate of the Embassy denied visa renewal to the presiding bishop of Living Faith Church (aka Winners' Chapel), Bishop David Oyedepo.

Also, popular comedian, BOVI, whom the Thisday report claimed was granted visa by the embassy while his wife's visa application was said to be denied has also debunked the story, stating that neither he nor his wife was at the embassy at all.

Both the US Embassy and Bovi debunked the story via their official Twitter handles. And since then, Thisday has reportedly deleted the story from their website.

It is very surprising how such a story could be published with such alleged exactness of narrative by a national daily, only to be flatly debunked by the principal subjects of the news. Did the story not pass through editorial checks?

Do the ICPC and the National Assembly committees on media have something to look into here?

As at this time, Oyedepo has not made any comments on the issue.

Recall that he was the most vocal religious leader who roundly criticized the unsuccessful social media bill last year which was aimed at censuring free speech via social media in the country.

Personally, I think that such an embrassing story like this is very much below the belt for a media outfit like Thisday Newspapers. So, I suspect that if an interest group that is not happy about the failure of the social media bill last year wanted to make a 'statement' by getting back at the Bishop for his opposition to the bill, this was a way to achieve such a vindictive aim.

If this is true, then it is a very sad development. Thisday is not a social media outfit, but rather a traditional mass print media outfit. If this was meant as a 'statement', then it is one in bad taste. In fact, it can be seen that social media can serve as a check on traditional mass media as evident in this case. This is why the freedom of speech as guaranteed by the constitution should always be upheld by every government.

This unfortunate incident is a good example of why I seldom take any seemingly negative news about Nigerian pastors and other religious leaders at face value.