The United Kingdom’s Office of Communications (Ofcom) has fined Pastor Chris Oyakhilome and his religious channel, Loveworld £125,000.
Oyakhilome, who is the Founder and President of LoveWorld Incorporated, also known as Christ Embassy, based in Lagos, has in the last one year encouraged his members to ignore COVID-19 protocols.
Ofcom in a statement on Wednesday said that the station was fined £125,000 (N65.6m) for breaching the country’s broadcasting code by disseminating misinformation on COVID-19.
The statement in part read: “Today we have fined Loveworld £125,000 for this breach of the broadcasting code. This was the second time in a year that the broadcaster breached our rules on accuracy in news and harm in its coverage of the coronavirus.”
On December 1 2020, Loveworld aired a 29-hour programme called the Global Day of Prayer, during which claims were made about the COVID-19.
These claims according to the agency included the notion that the outbreak was ‘planned’, that the ‘sinister’ vaccine can be used to implant ‘nanochips’ that can control and cause harm to members of the public and the debunked theory that the virus was somehow caused by 5G.
The agency said it was unfortunate that the station could continue to spread such information despite previous warnings.
The statement further read: “Ofcom stresses that legitimate debate about the official response to the coronavirus pandemic is fundamental to holding public authorities to account during a global health crisis - particularly when public freedoms are curtailed and complex policy decisions are being taken.
“However, the inaccurate and potentially harmful claims made during this programme were unsupported by any factual evidence and went entirely without challenge.
“Ofcom was particularly concerned that this breach followed previous, similar breaches in 2020 during the investigation of which, Loveworld Limited gave Ofcom a number of assurances as to how it would improve its compliance procedures.”
Oyakhilome, who is the Founder and President of LoveWorld Incorporated, also known as Christ Embassy, based in Lagos, has in the last one year encouraged his members to ignore COVID-19 protocols.
He recently asked his members not to take COVID-19 vaccines, in one of his sermon on the Church’s YouTube channel, Oyakhilome slammed Pastors for encouraging their members to take the COVID19 Vaccine.
He said, “I can’t understand how a minister of the gospel would be waiting for some vaccine to be the solution for the world. Where is your faith? What happened to you?
“We cannot make such recommendations, it is not our calling to make such recommendations. We cannot be used for that. As a minister of the gospel, you should not be used for that.
“How can you become of minister of vaccines? What happened to you? Where is the word of God in your mouth?
“Do you realise that if you would believe in Christ and in the word of God the way you believe in this vaccine, there will be power in your mouth? He (God) made us healers.”
