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FACT-CHECK: Is Video Showing Pastor Adeboye Saying T.B. Joshua Tried To Kill Him Real?

A video that recently went viral on YouTube shows the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, saying the late televangelist, Temitope Joshua, also known as Pastor T. B.
Joshua tried to kill him.

Claim: A video that recently went viral on YouTube shows the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, saying the late televangelist, Temitope Joshua, also known as Pastor T. B.
Joshua tried to kill him. 


Verdict: This video is misleading as it had been manipulated. 

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On July 5, news of the death of the founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Temitope Joshua broke, going viral and shocking many Nigerians.

The death of the popular televangelist was confirmed in a statement by the church on Sunday, July 6th. The statement reads, “On Saturday 5th June 2021, Prophet T. B. Joshua spoke during the Emmanuel TV Partners Meeting: Time for everything – time to come here for prayer and time to return home after the service.

“God has taken His servant Prophet T. B. Joshua home – as it should be by divine will. His last moments on earth were spent in the service of God. This is what he was born for, lived for, and died for.

T. B. Joshua, before his death, was one of the most famous preachers in Africa with thousands of followers in Nigeria and abroad.

He was in the good books of some political leaders, sports stars, and entertainment celebrities who visited his church for miracle healings, predictions of victories during elections, among other matters.

Joshua was also widely known for his philanthropy as he distributed food items and money to underprivileged members.

This was usually aired on his channel, Emmanuel TV, alongside the church’s programmes and miracle sessions.

Many Nigerian pastors often kept T. B. Joshua and his church at arm’s length possibly over some of the controversies that surrounded him and his ministry. 

There have also been allegations of sexual harassment levelled against Joshua by former female church members. 

Also, there have been some prophecies he had given which ended up being false. In 2016, the founder of The Synagogue Church Of All Nations, predicted a ‘narrow’ victory for Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, ahead of the November 8 election. This turned out to be false as Donald Trump emerged as President. 

With the ravaging effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Nigerians had longed for a cure and an end to the lockdown. In the midst of this, T.B. Joshua gave a prophecy that the pandemic would end on March 27. This has also proved to be false as a year on, the delta variant of the COVID-19 was confirmed in Nigeria.

In September 2014, a guesthouse in the SCOAN premises believed to be for foreign members of the church collapsed, leaving many worshippers dead. 

But, in his defence, Joshua said reports that the church auditorium collapsed and that there had been heavy casualties were not correct. "The few people that were there are being rescued," he said

He linked the collapse of the building to a “strange aircraft” which he said hovered over the building before its collapse. However, a Nigerian journalist, Nicholas Ibekwe, accused Joshua of offering bribes to reporters covering the collapse of his church’s guest house.

Following his death a few days before his 58th birthday and burial rites that lasted days, General Overseers of major churches in Nigeria came under fire for not sending condolence messages to T.B. Joshua's family and church. 

One of such men is the General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, who had lost his son a few weeks before Joshua's death. 

The basis of the argument was that when Adeboye's son died, T.B. Joshua sent a condolence message, explaining why many questioned Adeboye about not returning the same courtesy when the prophet died. 

Amid this, a manipulated video surfaced online showing Adeboye telling his congregation that, “T.B. Joshua tries to kill me, I'm not dying yet.”

Dubawa observed that YouTubers have shared the video as one part of the video where Adeboye mentioned T.B. Joshua was merged with another part of the video where the cleric said, ”...tries to kill me." It then appeared as if the cleric said, “T. B. Joshua tries to kill me, I'm not dying yet."


A YouTuber, Youtube Queen who initiated the conversation alleging that Pastor Adeboye recently said T.B. Joshua tried to kill him, garnered over 322, 000 views and over 3,000 likes for the video. 

The YouTuber further claimed the video was very recent and that it had just surfaced in June 2021 when T.B. Joshua was confirmed dead. 

She further dwelled on a conversation about perceived animosity between Adeboye and Joshua. 

She said, “The video is not old, for those of you who think it is an old video. He said this just four days ago, we were all waiting for Daddy G.O to say something but he refused, imagine what he has now come out to say.”

However, in a recent development, Adeboye, in a letter signed on June 15, before the claim surfaced, sent a condolence message to Evelyn Joshua, wife of the late cleric. In the letter, Adeboye said he joined millions of people worldwide to register the church’s condolence with her on the passing of her husband. He also said he believed he would meet Joshua at the feet of the Lord Jesus on the resurrection morning.


Verification
Dubawa observed that the video was from one of the church sessions during the 2018 Holy Ghost Congress of the church with the theme: 'Glory Ahead'.

Running a keyword search on Google, Dubawa observed that the speech of the cleric was reported by reputable media organisations on December 10, 2018. 

In the original video, Adeboye had warned members to desist from purchasing keyholders which carry his pictures or that of his wife as he emphasised that he is an ordinary man who cannot take the place of God. 

Adeboye explicitly stated that anyone who is glorified like God or above God is likely to be in very great trouble. 

He advised members of his congregation to report anyone selling such keyholders to the police and made a brief reference to one of such keyholders containing his picture with that of T.B.Joshua. 


His words, “It has been brought to my attention that some people are selling car keys, bracelets, etc. with my picture and the picture of my wife on it. May I appeal to you in the mighty name of Jesus, don't buy it from them.

“If you have bought them, throw them away, if you see those who are selling them, report them to the police, I didn't send them. I have nothing to do with them, I am an ordinary man, I am not God. 

”What these people are doing can lead to serious trouble, not for them but for me. God will not share his glory with any man. If at any time, God senses that a man is trying to share his glory, that man is dead and whether the devil likes it or not, I'm not going yet. I am not going anywhere yet so if you find anybody selling anything whatsoever with my picture there, either my picture or my picture with my wife or with somebody else, report them to the police.

“It is not only that, a woman bought one from them, gave it to a child and you know children, anything you give them, they think it is food, so the child began to eat it and when the mother tried to take it away, she saw that my picture there had opened and underneath my picture was the picture of T. B. Joshua and you know what that means. 

”Please do not cooperate with anybody that tries to kill me, I'm not dying yet."

Conclusion
From checks, the first 8 seconds of the video has been edited and manipulated. The video is not new, neither did Adeboye make a direct reference to Pastor T.B. Joshua as someone who tried to kill him.

 

The researcher produced this fact-check per the Dubawa 2021 Kwame KariKari Fellowship in partnership with SaharaReporters to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.