Nigerian pastor Chris Oyakhilome's health claims: eat more salt, fluoride is rat poison, no vaccine has ever worked
Evidence-first review. Sourced to reputable fact-check reporting.
Review
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, founder of Christ Embassy, has a large international following and a recurring problem with medical evidence. In a series of 2025 sermons, he told his congregation to ignore the doctors and trust the pulpit. Africa Check investigated and found serious problems with every claim.
The salt prescription
Oyakhilome told his congregation to eat more salt. Hospitals, he claimed, secretly treat patients with salt under different names. This is a lie with a side of stroke. High sodium intake is a leading risk factor for stroke and heart disease. The World Health Organization recommends limiting salt consumption. The “hospitals use salt secretly” claim has no evidence behind it. It does have a market. The congregation is the market.
The fluoride panic
Oyakhilome also said sodium fluoride is a major ingredient in rat poison and one of the main causes of cancer. Fluoride is added to toothpaste in small amounts to prevent tooth decay, and to some public water supplies at safe levels for the same reason. The fluoride compound in rat poison is a different substance at a different concentration. This is the “chemical appears in two things, therefore the two things are the same” fallacy. On cancer, there is no evidence linking fluoride to cancer in humans. The claim is outright false.
The vaccine denial
Then Oyakhilome said no vaccine has ever worked. Vaccines are among the most studied and validated medical interventions in history. Smallpox was eradicated through vaccination. Polio has been eliminated in most of the world. Measles vaccination averted more than 60 million deaths globally between 2000 and 2023, according to WHO and CDC estimates. The claim is not a matter of debate. It is a denial of the historical record.
The pattern
Oyakhilome was previously sanctioned by the UK regulator Ofcom for airing 5G-Covid conspiracy claims on his TV channel, and in 2024 falsely claimed a new malaria vaccine approved in Nigeria did not work. The health claims are not one-off errors. They are a recurring feature of his preaching. The authority of the pulpit is being used to displace the authority of evidence. The audience is a congregation that has already decided to trust the speaker before the claim is made.
When the speaker can say “hospitals are lying” and “vaccines never worked” and still fill the room, the room is not being educated. It is being harvested.
Verdict: False. Every health claim investigated by Africa Check was found to be wrong. The salt advice is dangerous. The fluoride claims are false. The vaccine denial contradicts the historical record. The pulpit is not a pharmacy. The congregation is paying anyway.
Sources
- Africa Check — From table salt to the Vatican: Unpacking Pastor Chris Oyakhilome's viral health claims
- WHO — Measles fact sheet
- CDC — Progress Toward Measles Elimination — Worldwide, 2000–2023
- The Guardian — Christian TV channel fined by Ofcom over Covid conspiracy theories
- Premium Times — Factcheck: Did Pastor Chris recently prophesy about the 2027 election?
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