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Claim: Different Twitter accounts shared a video of Pastor Kumuyi and his wife, claiming that the clergy relocated to London after advising Nigerians to endure the Tinubu-led administration.
Verdict: Misleading! Findings show that although Pastor Kumuyi stated he resided in London, United Kingdom, a long time before his advice to Nigerians, the video in question was taken in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Full Text
For a while now, there has been an increasing wave of Nigerians emigrating to other parts of the world for greener pastures, including academic pursuits and better living standards.
The situation has made the phenomenon called “Japa,” a Yoruba term meant to run or escape, an issue of national concern. The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) announced that it issued over two million passports in 2023 alone.
Amidst this surge of emigration, an X user, @Dearestjessica1, claimed that Pastor William Kumuyi, the General Superintendent of Deeper Christian Life Ministry, has relocated to London and attached a video to prove her claim.
“GO of Deeper Life, Pastor Kumuyi, has relocated to London after deceiving his members that Tinubu will build Nigeria.” The video caption reads.
The claim was made in reaction to a public appeal of the cleric asking Nigerians to support Tinubu and his newly appointed ministers and believe that God will use them as “instruments to build our nation.”
Also, during an October 2023 global crusade held in Benin, Edo State, the pastor told the congregation not to leave their country because he believed that prosperity would come there.
As of May 27, 2024, this post had amassed over 100,000 views, 540 likes, and 370 reposts.
A commenter, @Seyialli, said: “The extent to which you guys will go knows no bounds. Fake news peddler on behalf of adult beer! [sic]”
Another commenter, @Okwuchukwu97984, added, “This is an old video, biko. Check this video. He should be around his early seventies. The man is 83 going around ministering.”
“Kumuyi lives in (G)bagada Lagos Nigeria(.) He left (A)bia state earlier this month for India. (H)e’s presently in Cameroon, you can join (their) Monday Bible study online to verify(.) (I)ts going on now, so no need to insult anyone(.)” @HouseofNweze noted in the comment section.
Additionally, several other social media users and blogs shared the same claim, corroborating the narrative. See here, here, here, here and here.
The post’s virality led DUBAWA to fact-check the claim to set the record straight.
Verification
After carefully examining the video, we conducted advanced keyword searches to obtain details about it and found that it is not recent. On Sunday, April 26, 2017, Adelaja, a Nigerian pastor and founder of the Embassy of God, a church in Ukraine, posted a video showing Pastor Kumuyi’s visit to his church in a foreign country.
In the video clip, Pastor Kumuyi mentions that he is a native of Nigeria but based in London, United Kingdom. It is also noteworthy that the location of the video, where the interview was taken, is Ukraine.
Although the Facebook post was made in 2017, DUBAWA discovered that 2011 the Embassy of God Church included an illustrative picture of the clergy and his wife on the church’s official website. The photo used in a report about Pastor Kumuyi’s second visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2011 was taken from the video material presented by Pastor Adelaja on Facebook. Also, we found his ministerial speech here to the church members.
Conclusion
The claim is misleading. Findings show that Pastor Kumiyi had relocated to London long before he advised Nigerians. Moreover, the video in question was made in Kyiv, Ukraine.
