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The television network owned by the Founder of Christ Embassy, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, was also penalised for feeding viewers with the claim that coronavirus is a ‘global cover-up’.

In a statement on Monday published on its website, Ofcom stated that the caution followed an investigation into the matter.

The statement read in part, “Our investigation found that a report on Loveworld News included unsubstantiated claims that 5G was the cause of the pandemic, and that this was the subject of a ‘global cover-up’.

“Another report during the programme suggested hydroxychloroquine as a ‘cure’ for Covid-19, without acknowledging that its effectiveness and safety as a treatment was clinically unproven, or making clear that it has potentially serious side effects.

“There is no ban on broadcasting controversial views which are different from, or which challenge, official authorities on public health information. However, given the unsubstantiated claims in both these programmes were not sufficiently put into context, they risked undermining viewers’ trust in official health advice, with potentially serious consequences for public health.

“Given these serious failings, we concluded that Loveworld Limited did not adequately protect viewers from the potentially harmful content in the news programme and the sermon, and the news reports were not duly accurate. Loveworld Limited must broadcast our findings and we are considering whether to impose any further sanction.”

The PUNCH reports that Oyakhilome had alleged in April on the cable TV that the fifth generation of wireless communications technologies supporting cellular data networks was initiated to facilitate a “new world order”.

He had argued that the pandemic was created to instil fear among people in actualising the alleged agenda and that the 5G technology was an initiative of “the Anti-Christ”.

The comments courted controversy with the Federal Government of Nigeria and clerics knocking Oyakhilome for propounding such claims for which he would later backtrack on, saying he was only opposed to the initiative because of its perceived health risks.

“No matter how interested I am in the 5G, I’m going to put health first,” he had said in a rejoinder.

PUNCH NEWS

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Recently, there has been so much talk about 5G technology, what is a 5G technology?

5G is the fifth generation service. We had before now first generation, second generation, third generation, and fourth generation. Now, there is fifth generation. Each of these generations is a layer on each other. So 5G is going to ride on the infrastructure of the previous generations to provide higher speed data, better Internet connection, better data experience and most importantly, to connect to the Internet of things, IoT.

These are basically the features of 5G. They will ride primarily on the same transporting infrastructure, which is on the same backbone. Only the terminal equipment will be a little bit different from what we had before. In terms of migration, there is really no significant change between the first, second, third and fourth generations – there will not be much difference in terms of physical infrastructure between the fourth and the fifth, but you would have added features, enhanced capability, higher connection speed, better Internet experience and Internet of things over the next few years.

There have been various insinuations globally that 5G technology is harmful, is it?

It is not harmful. There is no harmful radiation from any telecom appliances. All electronic appliances have some form of radiation or the other. Telecom signals are not vacated through the non-ionising waves, which are regarded as non-harmful to humans. Basically, this is the kind of radiation you will have from your domestic appliances such radio, TV set, electric cooker, microwave, electric iron, toaster and the rest of them at home. So, there is no harmful radiation from telephone and there is no such harm from any of the generations of telecom service. It’s not in the fourth generation and there will not be any in the fifth generation. We are members of the International Telecommunications Union – Nigeria is a signatory to their treaty. We are also members of the World Health Organisation and a number of other revered bodies all over the world. We are a signatory to all their treaties, therefore, there is no safety concerns about the 5G; not here in Nigeria, not anywhere in the world.

We think that what the peddlers of this propaganda are doing is to put fear in the people. The only functional infrastructure that we all have access to where we live is telecom service. Once you attack this infrastructure, you attack business and a lot of other things will be attacked. So, I think the propaganda is just an idea to create fear in people in the light of the coronavirus pandemic. However, we should be careful that our attention is not shifted from the focus – how to attack this enemy, COVID-19.

There are allegations that it is what would be used to fulfil the prediction of the coming of the Antichrist as it is found in the Book of Revelations in the Bible, that it would come with encoded vaccines for coronavirus, and this was also noted by a popular Nigerian pastor, Chris Oyakhilome. What do think about all this?

There is no scientific basis for such claims. There is no scientific evidence to support it. Telecommunication is transmitted by electromagnetic waves, coronavirus is a pandemic and it is transmitted from human to human. Therefore, there is no reason whatsoever to think of that. The only thing I can make out of all of these is that those people are trying to create fear in the populace. What is even disappointing is that those who are supposed to bring people messages of hope are bringing messages of fear and that is the point of worry.

Like they say, if it is about the Antichrist, it raises some questions about what they teach and what they say. So, those who are meant to bring you messages of hope are now bringing you messages of fear and it is just destabilising the minds of the people. It is so because there is a lot of anxiety in the air.

My challenge to everyone is to ask them what is the scientific basis for linking coronavirus with 5G telecom’s service. Science is based on empirical and verifiable facts. What is the basis of the fear they are creating in people? They are just talking and talking, but are not ready to support their claims with any empirical fact.

There is a claim that coronavirus originated in Wuhan because the Chinese city had started rolling out 5G, do you think that claim is tenable?

It is not a tenable argument because there are also other cities in China that have the 5G rollout and have less impact of coronavirus because they accepted it early enough and put preventive measures in place to stop the spread.

There are also many countries of the world today that do not have 5G in commercial use but with many people infected with coronavirus. There are also many parts of countries in the world that have 5G and do not have people infected with coronavirus. So, there is no feasible fact to support that claim. Again, all these are borne out of baseless information and it is just an attempt to create fear in the minds of the people.

Why do you think 5G technology is more controversial than 4G, 3G and 2G, as we didn’t have all these issues when they were being introduced? Or maybe there is more to it than meets the eye…

It is nothing other than the circumstances of this time. Because by the time the other generations were introduced, the world was not dealing with the issue of coronavirus. COVID-19 has been described as a novel virus, which means it is new.

5G phone masts were set ablaze in the United Kingdom because of the fear that it was the cause of COVID-19; would you say those who burnt the masts were ignorant?

Yes – they acted out of ignorance and fear. And again because of what the world is facing, it is a time when people are restricted to their homes – they can’t go out. A number of people are being treated for this virus, and fear is making many people to misbehave. So, anything you tell them at this time is useless. What you tell them to do is what they will do.

Those who set the 5G masts ablaze in that part of the world have acted out of total ignorance and I think the law should take its course on them. Today, telecom is the common infrastructure that supports the world; it is what we use to run economies, even while we are at home. I appeal to those saying this has to do with religion to practise what they preach. If they think it is harmful, they should first disconnect themselves from this unit; they should disconnect their entire domain from this unit. If they are preaching that telecom is harmful, they should switch off the communication link to their domain so that it will reflect the true reality of what they are preaching and putting in the minds of the people.

It is truly annoying because all the people who come to make these claims from the things we are reading on the social media, are the people that, for instance, when this technology is eventually introduced, they will be the first to buy the most expensive or best range of mobile phones. They will be the ones to buy the Internet of things and so on.

Senator Dino Melaye also posted a viral video alleging that it is the 5G that is causing the coronavirus, what do you think about his comments?

I disagree with him completely. There is no scientific evidence to support his claim. People make claims with no empirical evidence to support their claims. The President (retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari) of the country today is doing very well – our government is doing well. We have received commendation from the World Health Organisation regarding the effort of the government. This is a collective effort. As the government is trying to do what it can, we too must support the government.

There are people who are comfortable, and they do things that will stir controversy. Science is not fiction, fiction is not science. So, as long as you cannot support any claim with empirical evidence, it is not scientific. All the arguments they are bringing forth because of this cannot be proved. If they insist on sticking to their claims, they should first disconnect themselves (from Internet) as an example to the world. We need to appeal to the public: you can listen to what they are saying, but let common sense prevail.

The same senator also alleged that a powerful global force for economic interest is behind the introduction of 5G into the global market which will ultimately harm a lot of people, what do you have to say about that?

There is no basis for that allegation. If you say there is a global force, name the global force. If you say 5G is responsible for coronavirus and coronavirus is 5G, why bring in a global force? What is the economic interest to be derived from people dying?

There is a report that in Sweden, there are already thousands of people who have chips inserted in their hands to work with their phones and to help them verify transactions and so on, do you think it is good? Or does it justify the fear of some that the end times are drawing near?

I don’t have that information and therefore, I cannot have any opinion about it. It will be very difficult to make any comment about what I don’t know.

Are telecom companies in Nigeria already considering introducing 5G technology in the country?

We have done two trials and government has yet to come up with any policy on 5G deployment. No operator at this time in the country is operating 5G network.

To introduce 5G now will come with some challenges because of the various theories making the rounds, how can telecom companies introduce it with the minimum level of resistance?

I don’t think it is time to begin to debate about how the public presentation will be done and all that. Technology is technology. If we don’t embrace it here, other countries will embrace it. There is no regulation in the world that will compel you to accept technology that you don’t want; what it means is that you would be behind other countries of the world.

Copyright PUNCH.

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Let us say I did not go to school but, as my grandmother (God rest her soul) would say, “I may be uneducated but I have a brain.” For one, South Korea launched 5G in April 2019 and did not record a coronavirus case until January 2020. Also, we don’t need any lockdown for 5G to be installed because it rides on fibre optic cable — which we have been laying across Nigeria for over 15 years! In fact, MTN and Globacom have laid nearly 20,000km of fibre optic cable all over Nigeria without any lockdown. Meanwhile, 5G is not a cable. You don’t lay it underground. You only upgrade to 5G by installing radios, antennas and nodes on existing masts — not by digging the ground, dummy!

True, Gates, in 2015, spoke about a possible pandemic, but isn’t that fairly predictable? It’s like saying there will be religious conflict in Kaduna state or flood in Lagos! Incidentally, President Barack Obama warned about a pandemic before Gates. Epidemics and pandemics are as old as the human race. The Plague of Justinian killed 25 million people as far back as AD 541-542. We have had the Black Death, the Asiatic Flu, the Spanish Flu (during which churches and mosques were closed down, as Pastor Sam Adeyemi has helped us dig out) and, recently, SARS. China has been the epicentre of epidemics since 1855. Any idiot can predict epidemics. You don’t have to be the Antichrist.

If people are genuinely worried that the 5G technology can cause health problems such as cancer, I can understand. We can begin to have an intelligent discussion around that. Fears have been raised, and are still raised, that the radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation that mobile phones or phone masts transmit can cause cancer. So far, no scientific study has backed this claim. All studies by reputable scientists have concluded that the radiation is non-ionising and does not have enough energy to damage DNA and cannot directly cause cancer. But to suggest that electromagnetic radiation can create a particle with genetic material is a completely different proposition altogether.

I accept that new technologies tend to get some people paranoid — and they begin to hallucinate. This is common in Christendom. Any new thing has to be linked to the “end times”. For context, the Bible talks about a time when the entire world will unite economically and politically — one currency, one religion, etc — under the Antichrist. People will voluntarily align with the Antichrist and get the “666” code as pass to do business in his kingdom. People won’t be deceived into accepting the mark of the beast. The Bible says the Antichrist will eventually engage in a final war with Jesus Christ in the Battle of Armageddon and will be routed. That is the context.

Not surprisingly, Christians have invented several Antichrists to enforce the Apocalypse. Nero Caesar, the Roman Emperor from AD 54-68, was once named the Antichrist — based on the numerical interpretation that “666” is the equivalent of his name and title in Aramaic. In 1992, I read an article in the magazine of the Nigerian Christian Corpers Fellowship (NCCF) declaring the credit card as the universal transaction tool that the Antichrist would use to control the world. Christians were asked not to use the “evil” cards. When the World Wide Web (www) began to gain ground, eschatologists said the Apocalypse had finally arrived. The world was now electronically one!

With his Microsoft Windows operating system a monopoly on PCs, Gates was appointed as the new Antichrist. His name amounted to “666” in the computer code, they said, similar to what they said about Nero. It seems Gates did not perform well as the Antichrist. He soon fell out of favour. Pope John Paul II was also a nominee. The end-time experts said the pontiff was working hard to unite the entire world under the Roman Catholic Church, after which he would rule as the Antichrist and Jesus would come and finish him off. The Pope also failed to perform. Instead, he died. Other names have been touted, including Obama, Saddam Husseina and Osama bin Laden.

Anytime an epidemic or war breaks out, the next thing we hear is that the world is about to come to an end “as predicted by the Bible”. Prophets have used the epidemics in centuries gone by — such as the bubonic plagues — to declare the end of the world. The Gulf War of 1990/91 was also supposed to end it all. But it seems we have finally found the answer. According to a popular pastor who said he took his inspiration from a 1984 movie rather than from the Spirit of God, 5G is the latest Antichrist tool in town. Conspiracy theories are easy to propound: just join unrelated events together, adjust the facts and speak some clean English. You are set to go.

I must confess that I find the 5G technology astounding. It is said to be 20 times faster than the current 4G LTE. That means you can download a two-hour movie in three seconds! This would normally take six minutes on 4G and 26 hours on 3G. Some of these end-time pastors will soon start asking us to download their messages “in just one second” for $10 each using the 5G technology! Also with 5G, artificial intelligence (AI) will explode. It will enable smart homes and driverless cars. We are told that doctors can perform surgeries virtually. Videos won’t buffer. This is mind-boggling! But as a layman, I would rather seek more knowledge on it than mystify or demonise it!

My daughter and I usually discuss creation and evolution. One day I told her: “Do you know a time will come when we will be able to travel from London to Lagos in one minute?” She laughed and asked: “How?” I replied: “I don’t know either. We have not discovered it yet. Wi-Fi existed from the foundation of the world. We only discovered it years ago. Maybe in another 300 years, we will discover how to fly from Lagos to London in one minute.” If someone had said in 1902 that a trip between Lagos and London would be done in six hours instead of one month, it would have sounded like the 5G/Antichrist thing. I accept that new technologies look like witchcraft.

When the jet was invented and you could travel from London to Lagos in just six hours, some end-time pastors must have said that the aeroplane was invented by the Antichrist; that by flying into the skies, humans were trying to challenge God like they did with the Tower of Babel. Look at Skype. You would be in Nigeria and be video-chatting with someone in Australia! Some end-time pastors would have described that as a witchcraft app which Christians must not touch. We are already doing laser operations, so 5G-guided surgeries should not be that strange. We are using drones to do incredible things. Technology is making everything look like magic. It must be the Antichrist at work!

With 5G and COVID-19 currently the hot topics, my brethren have gone back to the drawing board — or is it the cinema hall — and have come up with movie-inspired prophecies. The mantle of the Antichrist has been returned to Gates, who, they said, wants to give us digital identity chips under the pretext of vaccination against the coronavirus. We will then become zombies and he will begin to control us, using AI. So, we have been told to reject COVID-19 vaccines. This is the same way many northern children were stopped from taking the polio vaccine with the conspiracy theory that the US wanted to sterilise Muslims. Let us just say the “5G vaccine” is the Christian version.

When a pastor told me “vaccine digital ID” would eventually be a requirement to “buy and sell” under the Antichrist, I asked him: “Did you register for BVN?” He said yes. I said: “Then you already have a digital ID!” He screamed: “I’m finished!” The Antichrist has got him, poor soul! You cannot operate an account in Nigeria today without a BVN. If you ever gave your fingerprint to get a visa, be assured you already have a digital ID. If you have a mobile phone, you have technically received a “chip” that gives out your location per time. If you use an ATM or the autocorrect function on your phone, you are already under the influence of AI. Stop deceiving yourself!

Finally, let us now agree that these are the end-time signs. And so what? Why should any pastor be jittery, running scared and spreading panic? Pastors have been preaching that Jesus Christ is coming soon, so shouldn’t they be happy that their prophecies are about to be fulfilled? Are they afraid to go to heaven or what? What’s the point? Jesus said: “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” He did not say panic or resist it. Even then, can any preacher stop the Antichrist? Does the Bible say the mark of the beast will be given to you under a pretext? Some pastors certainly have more trust in movies than the Bible.

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