Some news reports claimed David Oyedepo and comedian Bovi’s wife were denied visas to the United States of America.
David Oyedepo and Bovi’s wife were not denied visas to the United States. The US embassy has refuted the claim; so also Bovi via his official Twitter handle.
Full Text
On Friday 31st of January, the media space ran agog with the claim, “Bishop Oyedopo in rage as U.S denies him Visa”.
Last week Friday, at least three platforms stated that the General Overseer of the Winners Chapel worldwide was denied a US visa. The reports also lumped popular comedian Bovi’s wife in the same category. Social media spread the news like wildfire with the Twitter trend garnering over 8000 tweets.
It is worth noting that Bishop David Oyedepo is the President of Living Faith, a church with its branches worldwide. Its headquarters though, reside in Ota, Ogun state.
Verification
Dubawa was unable to get contact details for Prof Sheriff Folarin the chairman, Editorial and Media Board Living Faith Church. He, however, issued a statement on Facebook rebuffing the assertions.
Nonetheless, the U.S embassy has openly debunked the news. The US embassy via its twitter handle advised against the dissemination of such reports; terming them FALSE.
The mission’s Twitter handle also emphasised its point graphically:
Additionally, popular Nigerian comedian, Bovi also debunked the claim through his Twitter account.
It is also worth noting that ThisDay and the News Agency of Nigeria have since retracted stories regarding the claim. Dubawa advises Nigerians to detest and desist from propagating fake news which continues to threaten our society.
Update
On February 11th, Information Nigeria, who had previously reported the Bishop was denied a US visa, published a correction.
