ON the 2nd of October 2021, a tweet that claimed a groomsman wearing earrings left a wedding ceremony because he was told it was not allowed in the church went viral.
The tweet archived here, which was made by @ChefOpeyemi with the user name ‘Food Critic’ reads: “At a Baptist Church in Isolo, groomsman duties and the reverend just told me I’m not allowed to wear earrings in church. I calmly left the church, guess it’ll be the reception for me. Shout out to Nigerian Christianity, and hope they have fine dining restaurants in hell.”
This created a buzz on social media with some people praising the church for taking a stand while admonishing him to abide by the rules and some doubting if the incident actually happened as it may be a fabricated story for clout.
It is not unheard of for people to fabricate stories for social media clout or gain, hence, the FactCheckHub verified the claim.
THE CLAIM
Groomsman was not allowed to attend a church wedding for wearing earrings.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is TRUE.
A Twitter user, Adelere Victoria in a tweet archived here confirmed that the incident happened in her church.
She said during the thanksgiving service held the next day, a Sunday, the pastor prayed for Opeyemi. “He even told the groom at their thanksgiving in church today that tell that your friend that I love him”, she noted.
In a separate tweet archived here, Adelere identified the church as Victoryland Baptist Church located at Qudus Folawiyo street in Isolo, Lagos state.
Opeyemi, in his now viral tweet, had noted that the incident happened at a ‘Baptist church’ in ‘Isolo’.
Another Twitter user, who alleged Opeyemi was chasing clout in a tweet archived here shared a photo of Opeyemi and a man he referred to as the pastor. The photo was taken in what appears to be the church premises with the groom and bridal party in the background.
The part of the building that can be seen in the photo has similarities in terms of the wall and window colours as well as the window framing from image of the Victoryland Baptist Church seen using Google Street View.
Multiple videos posted on the Facebook page of Victoryland Baptist Church has the man Opeyemi took a photo with either preaching or talking to a congregation. One of the video has a chest caption ‘Rev’d Dr Femi Ajayi’.
The FactCheckHub also called the number on the church’s Facebook page to confirm if the incident truly happened there. The person who picked up the phone call but declined to disclose his name said “I had done what the Bible teaches by correcting him lovingly and he had the right to adhere to instruction or not”.
A check on Truecaller – a web and mobile app-based platform for verifying contacts and blocking unwanted communication – shows ‘Femi Ajayi’ as the name on the number. Further checks using the WhatsApp platform shows the same Femi Ajayi and the profile photo is also that of the man Opeyemi took the photo (as shown above) with.
THE VERDICT
The claim is TRUE; the groomsman was not allowed into Victoryland Baptist Church because he wore earrings.
