![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dailypost.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Leo-Igwe.jpg?w=696&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHe said the above number had publicly testified of being healed from COVID-19. He spoke during his sermon at the church\u2019s headquarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Mr. Igwe believes that Oyedepo\u2019s claim could do more harm than good by making people to throw caution to the wind and indulging in risky behaviors believing that their faith would heal them if they get infected by the dreaded disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe claim is weighty, reckless, and irresponsible,\u201d Igwe said in a statement he made available to our correspondent on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to him, the World Health Organisation, WHO, has maintained that there is no cure for the virus at the moment and has outlined preventive measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Igwe noted that the cleric\u2019s healing claim goes contrary to the directives and positions of the WHO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHis faith healing claim is capable of making people throw caution to the wind, indulge in risky behaviors while believing that their faith would heal them if they contract the virus,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis faith healing claim by Oyedepo is a piece of misinformation because faith healing is superstition- not a science-based proposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is no evidence that anybody could be healed of coronavirus as Oyedepo. Unfortunately, this faith healing report from Winners\u2019 church was not balanced and did not contain any perspective from the NCDC, or the health ministry, or a public health expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis faith-healing claim has the potential of misleading the public, especially at a time of so much fear, panic, and uncertainty over the spread and cure of COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe lockdown has adversely affected the religious market. But the way to get the authorities to lift the ban on public gathering in churches is not to spread lies and misinformation about COVID-19 as Oyedepo has done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCOVID-19 constitutes a public health challenge, and church leaders should be mindful of the claims that they make.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recall that Prophet T. B. Joshua of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, SCOAN, had recently declared readiness to virtually pray for COVID-19 patients in isolation centres in Nigeria and other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an announcement on Tuesday, Joshua called on government and medical authorities to \u201corganize those who are in isolation\u201d and \u201carrange how to connect them to us\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cleric noted that \u201cthe blessing of Jesus is for those who knock and ask\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He told everyone that in whatever way they support to make the intercession happen, \u201cwe are a team; we are not doing more than you\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Lagos and other State governments have insisted that worship centres would remain closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was part of measure to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the Federal Government had ordered partial lockdown ease of worship centres across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Leo Igwe, founder of the Humanist Association of Nigeria (HAN) has \u2018knocked\u2019 Bishop David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church, a.k.a Winners Chapel, over his claim of healing some coronavirus patients through prayer. Recall that Oyedepo on Sunday disclosed that his church had recorded 114 COVID-19 healings. He said the above number had publicly testified […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Oyedepo-Living-Faith.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}