FACT CHECK: Did Catholic priest accuse gospel singer Mercy Chinwo of charging N10 million for every performance in church?

The claim that a Nigerian gospel singer Mercy Chinwo charges as much as N10 million anytime she is invited to perform in any church in Nigeria got a lot of people talking on social media recently.

The claim emanated from a sermon by a Catholic priest in Abuja, Chinenye Oluoma, posted on Facebook on 6 June, in which he accused the modern-day church in Nigeria of being “selfish” and making Christianity and worship “expensive”.

Two days after Mr Oluoma’s sermon was posted on Facebook, Daily Post, an online newspaper in Nigeria, ran a story with the headline: Mercy Chinwo now charges N10m to perform in churches – Rev. Fr. Oluoma slams gospel singers.

The newspaper, in the story intro, said the Catholic priest “disclosed that the popular gospel singer, Mercy Chinwo, now charges N10 million to perform in churches.”

Somewhere in the body of the story, Daily Post said, “Citing Mercy Chinwo as an example, the cleric, in a viral video, reiterated that the singer charges N10m as performance fee in churches.”

The paper embedded in its story a video clip of Mr Oluoma’s sermon taken from a tweet with a similar headline “Mercy Chinwo Charges N10m To Perform In Churches” – Rev. Fr. Oluoma Tackles Gospel Singers [Video]”.

This suggests that Daily Post may have gotten its story on Mercy Chinwo from the tweet by a Twitter user, Stay Inspired (@BetaMotive).

Daily Post later did a follow-up story on the issue by reporting the view of a popular social media commentator Daniel Regha who claimed that it was “ridiculous for Mercy Chinwo to charge N10 million to perform in churches.”

Mr Regha had expressed his view via a Twitter post, the paper said.

Another newspaper, PM News, also carried the story of the gospel singer.

The paper’s headline read: We have made worship expensive, Mercy Chinwo now charges N10m: Rev. Fr. Oluoma.

The intro in the report by PM News said: “Rev. Fr. Chinenye Oluoma has created heated discussions on social media after he claims popular gospel singer Mercy Chinwo now charges N10 million to perform in churches.”

Several Nigerians on social media weighed in on the issue, with some criticising Mrs Chinwo and others defending her.

“When Mercy Chinwo visited our Assembly not too long ago, she did not charge N10,000,000 as her fee. While I won’t disclose the exact amount she received, it was significantly less than half of N10,000,000,” George Nnadozie (@GeorgeNnad) said in a Twitter post.

“Out of her earnings, she graciously gave N1,000,000 back to the Church as an offering, demonstrating her generosity and support for House on the Rock, Asaba,” he added.

“Some elements complaining about Mercy Chinwo collecting N10m to sing meaningful songs would gladly pay secular artists twice more to come and sing about immorality,” a commenter, @PoloM77, commented on Mr Nnadozie’s post.

“But are gospel artists supposed to even charge to perform? I thought music was a ministry? Yes, the host could decide to appreciate the guest artistes but tagging a fee to an invite is what I totally frown at because it’s not biblical,” another commenter, @OperationBack, countered.

Sammy Etuk, a lawyer in Akwa Ibom State, South-south Nigeria, put up a post on Facebook to defend Mrs Chinwo, arguing that the gospel of Jesus Christ is free but costs a lot of money to spread.

“I see nothing wrong in Mercy Chinwo or any gospel minister worth his onion asking for fees to minister at an event. If any organiser is not comfortable, he should use his local choir in place,” Mr Etuk added.

A few church leaders like Runcie Mike of the Evening Church and Poju Oyemade of the Covenant Nation said that Mrs Chinwo had performed in their churches and did not charge them N10 million.

“Today is the first time I’m hearing that’s what she charges, I didn’t know,” Mr Mike of the Evening Church said.

Ab Isong, a pastor in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, who says he is close to Mrs Chinwo, told PREMIUM TIMES, “I can say she doesn’t go for as much as N10 million. Most of the events she attends, they just give her an honorarium, she doesn’t place a price tag.”

What the Catholic priest really said about Mercy Chinwo

We have reviewed the clip of Mr Oluoma’s sermon, which is posted on his Facebook page.

The reverend father, while referring to the attitude and action of the modern-day church in Nigeria, said, “We have become too selfish, a manifestation of the flesh, carnality. We have made Christianity expensive, we have made worship expensive.”

The priest said Christians in Nigeria prefer to build expensive church buildings instead of deploying the resources to help the poor and the needy. He admitted that as a priest, he too had been guilty of that, but he has been talking against such practices “since I gave my life to Christ”.

READ ALSO: Mercy Chinwo announces engagement to popular Lagos pastor

“Listen, in a place where hunger and poverty is endemic, expensive, exotic, church is an insult to God. In fact, it’s a crime against charity and humanity,” the cleric said.

Mr Oluoma also talked about how expensive it has become to worship God in Nigeria.

Turning to the congregants, he asked: “If I have to bring Ms Chinwo to come here and minister to you guys now, how much will I pay her? How does a gospel artist of Mrs Chinwo’s status charge to come to an event or a church? How much do you think she’ll collect?

Some persons among the congregants responded (though it is inaudible), prompting Mr Oluoma to react, apparently in shock, “Ten? Oh, it has reached N10 million?

Continuing, the priest said: “So, I would now collect money from you people?

“These are the tragedies we have turned Christianity to? That an artist will come to a church and lead in praise and worship for N10 million, N5 million! So if that particular artist does not sing ‘Jesus, you love me too much’ that means God doesn’t love you too much?”

Our rating: False

While Mr Oluoma said it was wrong for gospel singers in Nigeria to charge exorbitant fees for their performance in churches, he did not accuse Mercy Chinwo of charging N10 million for every of her performance in church. The cleric only reacted to what the unidentified congregant said, which, after all, may have been misleading. Besides, the cleric talked about the “gospel artist of Mrs Chinwo’s status”, not Mercy Chinwo herself.

We rate the claim as false.

Sourced From Nigerian Music