Skip to main content

Bishop Oyedepo And Irresponsible COVID-19 Faith Healing Claims By Leo Igwe

The Advocacy for Alleged Witches is deeply concerned about the recent statement by the founder of the Living Faith Chapel, David Oyedepo, that he could lay hands and pray for COVID-19 patients. His claim has the potential of undermining efforts to tackle and defeat this vicious virus. Oyedepo has reportedly said during his sermon on Saturday, August 29: “Can you imagine anyone bringing a Coronavirus patient to me and I won’t lay hands on him? Will I wear gloves to lay hands on them?” 

Then he went further to state: “I will lay hands on them; breathe into them; embrace them. What you carry is eternal life. It’s not human life. You should know that.”


Unfortunately, Oyedepo has made similar reckless remarks in the past. For instance, in June, this pentecostal preacher and witchcraft exorcist said that his church had recorded over 114 COVID-19 healing testimonies. These faith healing claims fly in the face of facts and figures regarding the management and containment of COVID-19 in Nigeria and beyond. The Nigerian health authorities should call Oyedepo to order. They should sanction him because Oyedepo is a pastor with an academic background in architecture, not a public health expert. Living Faith Chapel is a church, not a health institution. 

The Coronavirus pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to the faith healing industry. And pentecostal pastors such as Bishop Oyedepo are desperate to get back into the business of mining the gullibility of Nigerians. The virus has succeeded in exposing the fakery and inefficacy of faith-healing practices. COVID-19 is a global pandemic and a public health emergency that has no cure yet.

There is no evidence that Coronavirus patients could be healed through prayer or laying of hands. Instead, evidence abounds that such practices contribute to the spread of the infection. Some pastors reportedly contracted the virus and subsequently died after praying and laying hands on patients. 

So, Oyedepo’s statement is a proposition that could lead to a spike in the infection, or death. AFAW urges members of the public to disregard this misleading and irresponsible proposition of Bishop Oyedepo and continue to follow the WHO evidence-based guidelines for the management of the pandemic. 
 

Opinion

AddThis

: 

Original Author

: 

Leo Igwe

Disable advertisements

: 

from 24HRSNEWS
via 24HRSNEWS



from EDUPEDIA247https://ift.tt/2ETjaFO
via EDUPEDIA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nigerian Academy Of Science Inducts First Female President

The Nigerian Academy of Science has inducted a professor of Parasitology/Epidemiology, Ekanem Ikpi Braide, as its 19th President on Thursday. In a statement issued by Oladoyin Odubanjo, the Executive Secretary of the Academy, Braide is the Academy’s first female President in 44 years of existence. It read, “Braide was a member of the national committee that achieved the laudable feat of guinea worm eradication in Nigeria. “She has a rich professional experience as a researcher and an administrator. In July 2010, Professor Braide was honoured by the President of Nigeria with the award of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) for her contribution to disease control in Nigeria. “She was nominated by the Honourable Minister of Health to serve in the Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Health Sector Response (MEACoC-HSR). “Professor Braide served as Vice-Chancellor, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) Calabar, Nigeria (2004 to 2009) and as P...
Post a Comment
Read more

NLNG Signs Letter Of Intent On Delayed Gas Expansion Project

The Nigerian Natural Liquefied Gas LTD has signed a letter of intent for the engineering, procurement and construction of its long held up Train Seven project. In a statement released by the company on Wednesday, it said that the $10bn project will be executed by a consortium of Italian firm Saipem, Japan’s Chiyoda and South Korea’s Daewoo. The statement reads, “The project will form part of the investment of over $10bn including the upstream scope of the LNG value chain, thereby boosting the much needed Foreign Direct Investment profile of Nigeria.” Managing Director of NLNG, Tony Atta, said in 2018 that the Final Investment Decision would be made in the fourth quarter of that year. This did not however, materialize. According to the release, the project will have a four to five-year execution time after the signing of the FID. The project is expected to add an extra 8 million tons per annum of gas to the 22 mtpa currently exported by the company. Oil News AddThis :...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former Maritime Agency Boss, Buba Galadima, Accuses AMCON Of Witch-hunt After Property Takeover

  A former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Agency, Buba Galadima, has accused the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria of witch-hunt after the agency took possession of his business and assets on Tuesday in Abuja. Galadima, an ardent critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that he did not borrow money or have unpaid debt with Unity Bank, which lodged a complaint against him and occasioned AMCON’s move on Tuesday. The properties taken over include House No. 15, Addis Ababa Crescent, Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and House No. 4, Bangui Street, Wuse 2, also in Abuja.  Reacting to the situation, Galadima said, “This is an attempt to disgrace and break me down. This is injustice and an attempt to humiliate me. "But I am unbreakable and they can never silence me. They sacked me and over 50 people that sleep in the apartment. "We don’t know where to go. We will remain on the streets. We will remain on the streets until God provi...
Post a Comment
Read more