“I Did Not Do It” — RCCG Pastor Adeboye Breaks Silence On Alleged Protest Against Jonathan In 2020

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has explained that a photograph showing him holding a placard was taken during a 2020 prayer walk against insecurity, under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, and not during the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Adeboye said the photograph was misrepresented by a journalist, who allegedly portrayed the event as a protest against Jonathan, making many Nigerians believe the claim without verifying the facts.

The cleric spoke during the RCCG thanksgiving service on Sunday, where he recounted how the photograph was used to portray him as a wicked person for allegedly protesting against the former president.

“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,” he said.

Adeboye said the photograph showed him carrying a placard but insisted that the activity was a prayer walk organised by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), rather than a protest against Jonathan.

“True, I carried a placard. I can’t deny that. It was not a protest; it was a prayer walk. We wanted to pray,” he said.

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According to the cleric, CAN had directed churches to organise prayer walks around their respective locations, prompting him to participate in the exercise at Ebute Metta, Lagos.

He said the photograph was taken in 2020, five years after Jonathan left office in 2015 and during Buhari’s second term as president.

“But I carried the placard in 2020. Jonathan ceased to be president in 2015. I carried the placard five years into the second term of Buhari,” Adeboye said.

The cleric expressed concern that the photograph had been used to advance a misleading narrative about his actions, alleging that the journalist involved failed to verify the circumstances surrounding the event.

“A journalist twisted it. I said, I did what I did in 2015. And everybody swallowed it,” he said.

Adeboye also recalled his exposure to journalism studies during his university days, stressing the importance of verifying information before publication.

In February 2020, Adeboye led members of the RCCG in a demonstration against insecurity in Nigeria, calling attention to the loss of lives caused by insurgency and other security challenges.

Buhari was president at the time, having served from 2015 to 2023, while Jonathan’s administration ended in 2015.

Adeboye’s clarification highlights the importance of establishing the context and date of photographs before concluding public figures and their actions.