The claim: Several news outlets, including Sahara Reporters, Vanguard News, and Punch Newspapers, have recently published headlines suggesting that Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), claimed he would die on a Sunday after eating pounded yam. These headlines have gotten a lot of attention and have been widely shared and discussed on social media.
Investigation:
To verify the accuracy of these claims, we examined the context and content of Pastor Adeboye’s statement, as reported by the same news outlets. According to the detailed reports, the statement was made during Day 3 of the church’s ongoing RCCG Holy Ghost Congress at the Redemption Camp in Ogun State.
Pastor Adeboye recounted a personal story about his uncle, who passed away peacefully after a church service, without any prior sickness or pain. He used this story to illustrate his own desire to pass away without stress or sickness, should the rapture not occur soon. He expressed a preference for this kind of peaceful passing, mentioning that if it were up to him, it would be “on a Sunday after a good meal of pounded yam.”
Contextual Analysis:
The context of Pastor Adeboye’s statement is crucial. His words were part of a larger narrative about dying peacefully and without suffering, rather than a direct prediction or wish about the specific circumstances of his death. It appears that his mention of “a Sunday after a good meal of pounded yam” was more of a figurative expression, reflecting a peaceful and content state, than a literal or specific prophecy about his death.
Conclusion:
Based on our analysis, the claim that Pastor Enoch Adeboye explicitly stated he would die on a Sunday after eating pounded yam is misleading. The headlines from the mentioned news sources seem to have taken his words out of the broader context in which they were spoken. While he did mention dying on a Sunday after a meal of pounded yam, it was in the context of expressing a preference for a peaceful passing without suffering rather than a definitive statement of his death’s timing and circumstances.
Our Rating: Mostly False The headlines suggesting that Pastor Adeboye predicted or wished to die specifically on a Sunday after eating pounded yam are not fully accurate. They omit the broader context of his statement, which was about a peaceful passing, akin to the experience of his uncle, rather than a precise prediction about his own death.
Fact-check Sources:
- Sahara Reporters, Vanguard News, and Punch Newspapers articles on Pastor Adeboye’s statement
- Contextual understanding of the statement from the RCCG Holy Ghost Congress event
- Analysis of the narrative style and content of Pastor Adeboye’s speech
