COVID-19: Oyedepo tells Christians not to take vaccine

General Overseer of the Living Faith Church International aka Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, has again asked Christians in Nigeria to shun the COVID-19 vaccines because the "vaccines are deadly."

Oyedepo, like a couple of mega-church pastors in Nigeria, considers the novel coronavirus disease a hoax.

During the 40th anniversary thanksgiving service of the church at the Ota Cathedral in Ogun State, on Sunday, May 9, 2021, Oyedepo boasted that he's got the cure for COVID-19.

“They should come to me to find out how to deal with COVID-19 at no cost," he said.

“Let me warn you against this deadly thing (vaccine) circulated round the country, because it has not been duly tested.

"An elder of this church, who works with the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed this, thanking me for always speaking the truth about the authenticity of the COVID-19 vaccine,” he added.

The Bishop who commands such a huge following across Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, added that the plan to take the COVID-19 vaccination campaigns to churches is an insult to the body of Christ.

He said every church is an "anti-COVID-19 zone.”

“What an insult! What an assault! Nobody has the right to enforce vaccination on you, and anybody cannot terminate your employment because you refuse to take the vaccine. My God will show up (for you).

“Did I tell anyone I am sick? Don’t let anyone harass you into doing what you don’t want to do.

“They wanted Africa dead. I heard them say it. When we didn’t die as they proposed, they brought out this vaccination scheme. You need to hear their proclamation that Africa will lack spaces to bury corpses.

"But, today, reverse is the case. Africa has the least casualty among all the other continents of the world," he blared to a largely mask-less congregation.

Bishop David Oyedepo leads Winners Chapel with headquarters in Nigeria (Punch) ece-auto-gen

A year ago, Bishop Oyedepo criticized the government's COVID-19 era restrictions that saw churches closed but markets opened.

“For people to be allowed to be in the market for six hours and can’t be in church for two hours, it’s an upside down way of looking at things.

“Which one is more orderly? The market or the church? I can smell a rat," he preached.

Scientists from across the world have certified the COVID-19 vaccine jabs administered worldwide to be safe, effective and without adverse side effects.

Nigeria has reported over 165,000 COVID-19 cases, 156,000 recoveries and 2,065 deaths as of May 9, 2021, according to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC).

Nigeria took delivery of 4 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines in March.