By Precious Igbonwelundu
Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo’s Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA) may face legal battles from music stars David Adeleke alias Davido and Tiwa Savage for allegedly doctoring videos of them in an advertisement for the church’s programme.
The church, which faced major scandal earlier this year following allegations of rape levelled against Fatoyinbo by celebrity photographer Busola Dakolo, was yesterday accused by the music artists of deceptive behaviour.
In separate videos shared on social media by prominent members of the church, including Fatoyinbo, the celebrities were portrayed to have endorsed COZA and its 12 Days of Glory (12DG) programme slated for next month.
The first video, which was shared was that of Davido where he was seen with a kid and a woman ‘discussing’ the oncoming programme.
Thereafter, another video of Ayodeji Balogun alias Wizkid and Tiwa Savage also surfaced online with similar messages.
The celebrities, who did not find the alleged fraudulent advertisements funny, took to their verified social media handles to refute them, assuring their fans they had nothing to do with COZA.
Davido said he was approached to do a quick private video for a child introduced to him as his fan, which he claimed COZA doctored to suit its purpose.
Davido wrote: “I am writing to quickly disclaim the viral videos going around of me advertising COZA event to come up. I have to say I have NOTHING to do with the church!!!
“The fact that I did a quick video for a kid introduced as a fan just for her personal use and it was chopped up and used for an advert extremely disappoints me!!! I have never and most certainly not associated in any way with COZA church and have reached out to those responsible for this… immediately!!
“I will most certainly be proceeding further if you do not react (retract) that video immediately!!! A word is enough!!!”
Similarly, Tiwa Savage said she was disappointed that she was fraudulently approached to comment on how good God has been good to her only for the comments to be skewed to serve the church’s advert purpose she knew nothing about.
“It has been brought to my attention that there is a viral video which incudes me advertising an upcoming COZA event.
I want to state that I have nothing to do with the church and generally do not endorse their events. I’m extremely disappointed that I was fraudulently approached to simply comment on how good God has been to me and it has been wrongly edited to use my image to create an advert to deceive people.
COZA, this is wrong! I will be taking action if this is not immediately retracted,” she said.
Wizkid, who also refuted the video, stated emphatically that he doesn’t endorse any church nor pastor.
Reacting to the development, Nigerians on social media advised the church to organise “12 Days of Consent,” since its founder and the church have been alleged of non-consensual sex and advertisements.
Read Also: COZA: Fatoyinbo not ready to be helped, says ex-spiritual father
Many condemned the church for using secular musicians to promote a 12-day spiritual programme that includes fasting and intense prayer.
A Twitter user, Aduni Achebe, wrote: “COZA can never trend for the right reasons. What’s worrisome is not that they allegedly used Davido’s video without his consent, but that they’re using a secular artist to promote a church programme. I could be wrong but I think that’s like having Mia Khalifa promote Shiloh.”
However, Elizabeth Omale, whose daughter Davido made the video for, exonerated the church of wrongdoing, apologising for the wrong usage of the recording.
Omale took to her Instagram page, saying she did not act as a representative of the church.
“The video was …simply my way of raising awareness for a programme…
“I have read reports online claiming that Davido is coming to the programme as an ambassador of COZA because of the video. These reports are false.
“He recorded that video with me and my daughter as a favour to a friend, nothing more.
‘’…Pastor Biodun only reposted the video from my page because he has been reporting videos about the programme…’’
“My video wasn’t the only one on his page. The video was a product of my excitement about 12DG and there was no malice intended.
“I apologise for the confusion, and misrepresentation once again I’d like to say I acted as an individual and not as an official representative of COZA. Thank you.”
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