Rev Chris Oyakhilome: Between Lies And Half Truth
By: Zubby Alazua
Sanity is when somebody knows what is right and does them. The other side of the coin is insanity commonly referred to as madness- in this case, all the person wants to do are the things that are not only wrong but foolish. Is it not clear that the barrage of falsehood by a section of the society against Rev. Chris Oyakhilome and the Church-Christ Embassy using the media was an outright venting of bottled-up vendetta?
Where is this wave of falsehood and fabricated stories on the matrimonial cause between Rev Chris and his wife, Anita coming from?
Yes, there is a pending divorce proceeding in a London Court filed by Anita Oyakhilome against her husband, Rev Chris Oyakhilome but where did the media get the adultery allegation from because it was never an issue in the suit pending at the court?
Whosoever introduced the adultery allegation, without doubt, has definite wicked and malicious intentions of bringing the person of Rev Chris and the Church- Christ Embassy to public infamy and ridicule. The question: what are the intentions and of what gain? Is it not clear enough that was a deliberate covert intent to rubbish the Church and its leader by introducing what people would hear and ridicule the Church and their leader-Pastor Chris?
It is an outright irresponsibility that under the guise of reporting a divorce proceeding, somebody who calls himself/herself a publisher/journalist would prefer to opt for an unjustified and malicious attacks on someone's reputation for reasons not unconnected with selfish motives of prospect of material and financial advantage attendant to the wide circulation and sales such distorted and fabricated stories would enjoy.
How could these media outfits set out to deliberately distort facts which are in the public domain as concerns the pending court proceedings involving Rev Chris and his wife if not that the motives are sinister? While nobody contests the individual's right to freedom of information and expression, it is expected that, as a matter of keeping to the applicable Code of Ethics of the Journalism profession, the concerned media outfits should have first and foremost verify the authenticity of the facts in their stories and/or their sources before publication.
So where is credibility and decency if someone can just pick up falsehood especially as it weighs heavily on another person's reputation and publish more so as now concerns the leader of a worldwide church with massive follwership?
As said in a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday September 2014, Counsel to Rev Chris, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN) said the adultery allegation 'currently circulating in the media is nothing but a complete distortion of facts in the pending proceedings in the United Kingdom'
As advised by Pinheiro, it behoves journalists in various media establishments to verify the authenticity of their stories before they publish and refrain from putting up fabricated reports. Supposing Pastor Chris decides now to take appropriate legal actions to protect his reputation and that of his church- Christ Embassy, how would the media report that: That a man of God has dragged publishers to court? I as much as we have freedom of access to information, by the time such freedom infringes on another person's reputation, it becomes libellous, I hope those concerned media outfits would advise themselves.
(ZUBBY ALAZUA: 40d Stella solanke Close Ajao Estate, Lagos : [email protected])
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