The management of ThisDay newspaper has announced the suspension of two of its editors over a report published about the General Overseer of Living Faith Church, David Oyedepo, which turned out to be false.
According to the controversial story published last Friday, Bishop Oyedepo was denied a visa at the US Embassy.
However, the US Embassy, on the same day, debunked the story, alleging that it was a ‘manufactured’ report.
Also, the chairman, Editorial and Media Board of Winners, Sheriff Folarin, said the bishop was at no time denied an entry visa into the US and could not have applied for any, as he still has a valid US visa on his passport.
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“Mainstream and online media spaces this morning (yesterday) were abuzz with the news that Oyedepo was denied an entry visa to the US on Thursday, January 30, this year,” Mr Folarin, a professor, said on Sunday.
#FalseNews Alert! Be advised, the reports making the rounds about a visa being denied to Nigerian Bishop Oyedepo are false.
If you have seen this manufactured item in the media, help defeat this #misinformation by communicating to everyone that it is completely false. pic.twitter.com/H1pDwhf9XW
— U.S. Mission Nigeria (@USEmbassyAbuja) January 31, 2020
Meanwhile, in a statement, on Tuesday, the management of THISDAY Newspapers Limited noted that it “has suspended two of its deputy editors, Yemi Ajayi and Olawale Olaleye, over the story: “Drama as US Embassy Denies Bishop Oyedepo Visa,” published last Friday.”
The newspaper company said it “investigated the publication and found that the two deputy editors failed to follow its well-established traditions of carrying out the necessary checks and confirmations expected of personnel of their status in a sensitive story of that nature.”
