By Fredrick Nwabufo
In Nigeria, to
infract the law and escape retribution be a cleric or a politician under the
sanctuary of the government of the day. Pastors and imams emanate and fecundate
fake news and hate speech without scruples because of some seeming
‘’self-immunity’’ effectuated by the sensitivity of religion here.
Clerics in the
country defy the law unabashedly and with unrestrained arrogance. And when
there is an attempt to hold them to account the refrain becomes ‘’our religion
is under attack’’ by unbelievers.
On March 22, 2020,
David Oyedepo, founder of Living Faith Church, better known as ‘’Winners’
Chapel’’, held services against the advisory and restriction on religious
gathering by the Ogun state government. This was at the time the figure of
COVID-19 cases in the country was creeping.
The police were said
to have advised the bishop not to proceed with the religious activities, but he
ignored them and persisted in his insouciance against lawful authority.
Oyedepo even bragged
at the service: “Shutting down churches would be like shutting down hospitals.
There are many, many places that would never have any medical solution but in
church.’’
Also, at the
weekend, a televised falsehood by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome rippled on social
media channels. The pastor claimed coronavirus is illusory; that it is a grand
conspiracy of the bastions of a ‘’New World Order’’, and that it is spawned by
5G – fifth generation mobile technology.
Hear him: “Don’t
think what is happening right now has to do with a virus. It’s not a virus. The
world has chosen to be deceived. As they have been deceived many times before.
‘’If you still don’t
yet know what is going on, know today; it’s not about the coronavirus. This is
basically a group of people serving a devilish cause trying to checkmate
humanity to hell. Don’t be ignorant, neither silent. This isn’t a time to sit
on the fence because there is no fence. This isn’t about religion because as
you can see, there isn’t one either. It boils down to two options: Life or
Death.’’
The pastor dug the
pits of ignorance deeper and cited a movie ‘Divergent’ to buttress his claim.
‘’There’s a movie
called ‘Divergent’ from 2014. That’s what the groups that are interested in the
new world order are up to, to put vaccine in your body containing a digital ID,
by which you as a human being can be controlled, you cease to be yourself,” he
said.
Not yet done, he
re-affirmed himself in another televised show of dopiness. He claimed the
federal government locked down Abuja, Lagos and Ogun to install 5G, icing the
misinformation with fiction that 5G technology killed people in Wuhan, China,
not coronavirus.
“The federal
government was pushed to lock down Abuja and Lagos specifically. Why? Because
of 5G in Abuja and Lagos. Because they already tested 5G in Abuja and they’re
digging in Lagos,’’ he claimed.
“They’re engaged in
the draining in Lagos. That is why the federal government had to shut down
Abuja and Lagos so that the 5G could be installed. And there are other cities
planned for.
“As I said before,
what kills people in Wuhan was not coronavirus. It was the 5G. If you say it’s
not, then tell us how you discovered yours.”
This fish story by
Oyakhilome catalysed and even diffused through educated membranes like native
perfume. The implication of which is a strain on the fight against COVID-19 in
the country. Since the famous cleric said 5G technology is responsible for
coronavirus why should those taken in by this fable take the necessary
precautions against the disease?
The Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC) dispelled the inveracity –though I do not think
it is enough until Oyakhilome is arrested and made to face the mortalities of
his crime of spreading injurious misinformation.
To clear the fouled
air, the NCC said: ‘’There is no correlation between 5G Technology and
COVID-19. 5G is an advancement on today’s 4G technology, designed to transform
the world positively. 5G is a fifth generation of mobile technology which is an
improvement on today’s 4G technology with enhanced capabilities. The 5G
technology provides the platform for new and emerging technologies such as
Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data to improve
the way we live and work.’’
The commission also
explained in a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ column that: ‘’5G technology will
transform the world by connecting everything with everybody. It will create
millions of jobs, it will add billions of dollars to the economy (GDP), and can
solve some of our problems such as insecurity and improve governance and
efficiency in the society.’’
On whether the
radiation from 5G is different from those of 2G, 3G and 4G? It said: ‘’No, they
all belong to the same class of Non-ionizing Radiation.’’
Really, we live in a
country where ordinary citizens are harassed and hounded into prison for
ventilating their opinions under a highly contentious law – Cybercrime Act.
Journalists and bloggers have been the biggest casualties of this law. Why is
Oyakhilome not being charged under this same law for misinformation? Is he
above the law?
As a matter of fact,
what Oyakhilome has done has the propensity of rolling back the gains made in
the fight against COVID-19 and also of derailing efforts at containing the spread
of the disease.
Also, I think what
he has done can be termed a terrorist act for its capability of leading
citizens astray to mass death and certain doom. He should be held to account.
If he escapes the law on this, then the government has no moral authority to
arrest any Nigerian who spreads fake news.
Fredrick Nwabufo is
a writer and journalist
Twitter:
@FredrickNwabufo
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