The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has criticised a journalist for allegedly misrepresenting the date and purpose of a prayer walk he led in Lagos, insisting that the exercise had nothing to do with former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Adeboye addressed the controversy on Sunday, November 1, during the church’s November Thanksgiving Service, where he said a report had wrongly portrayed him as having carried a placard against Jonathan while he was president.
The cleric explained that the prayer walk took place in 2020, five years after Jonathan left office in May 2015, and was organised to draw attention to killings and insecurity across Nigeria.
He said he initially found the report amusing but became concerned that the account had been circulated without proper verification.
“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 acknowledged carrying a placard during the exercise but maintained that it was part of a prayer walk rather than a protest directed at Jonathan.
“True, I carried a placard. I can’t deny that. It was important. It was a prayer walk. We wanted to pray,” he said.
He explained that the exercise followed a directive for churches to organise prayer walks around their locations as part of a wider period of prayer against insecurity.
“The chairman said all churches should do a prayer walk near their churches. That’s what I did,” he added.
The RCCG leader specifically challenged the timeline in the report, pointing out that Jonathan was no longer president when the exercise took place.
“But I carried the placard in 2020. Jonathan ceased to be president in 2015. I carried the placard five years in the second term of Buhari,” Adeboye said.
He accused the journalist of twisting the facts and criticised the failure to investigate the circumstances surrounding the photograph before publication.
Adeboye also referred to his exposure to journalism studies in the 1960s, saying the importance of investigative journalism and fact-checking had been emphasised during his studies.
“I remember in those days in the Department of Journalism, when you go there and you take a course, they talked about something called investigative journalism,” he said.
He urged journalists and other media practitioners to investigate claims and establish the facts before publishing reports.
“That things don’t appear as they may seem. Investigate, if you have a story, before you take it to the press,” he added.
Historical reports confirm that Adeboye led an RCCG prayer walk in Lagos on February 2, 2020, carrying a placard with the inscription, “All Souls Are Precious to God.”
The procession began at the church’s national headquarters in Ebute Meta, proceeded towards Atan Cemetery in Yaba and returned to the church. It formed part of a nationwide prayer exercise organised during a three-day fasting and prayer programme declared by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
The exercise was organised to seek divine intervention over killings, terrorism and worsening insecurity in the country. It took place during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, who succeeded Jonathan in May 2015.
The photograph later circulated online alongside claims linking the prayer walk to Jonathan’s presidency. A fact-check by Africa Check had previously found no evidence that Adeboye led the widely circulated placard procession during Jonathan’s administration.
“So I carried the placard, I can’t deny that. It wasn’t in protest, it was a prayer walk and the CAN chairman instructed churches to do so. Always investigate before you share unverified story.”
~ Pastor Adeboye says as he replies Critics pic.twitter.com/8RT6ILEbrx
— Nigeria Stories (@NigeriaStories) November 1, 2026
The clarification by Adeboye comes amid renewed attention to the photograph and debate over the cleric’s public comments on national security.
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