CAN president,
Samson Ayokunle, in a statement by his media assistant, Adebayo Oladeji, said
the continued closure of worship centres by some state governments was “no
longer acceptable or reasonably justified” after the newly relaxed lockdown
protocol by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
On June 1,the task
force at a press briefing released an eight-point guideline for the reopening
of worship centres.
The newly relaxed
lockdown protocol enables state governments to take a final decision on whether
or not to reopen worship places and to also ensure compliance with COVID-19
safety rules.
However, some state
governments, including Lagos and Ogun, which have yet to reopen the worship
centres, insist that communal worship is a no for now, amidst surge in
coronavirus cases in both states.
Initially, the Lagos
and Ogun state governments said they would reopen churches and mosques on June
19 before they made the sudden turnaround, stating high risks.
“This is not a
decision that we have taken lightly, it is simply in line with our ongoing
evaluation of evolving scenarios regarding the course of the infection in Lagos
State and the corresponding public health advisory guidelines issued by the
experts,” Lagos governor, Babajide Sanwolu said at a press briefing in June.
As of Tuesday night,
Lagos had 11,520 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which makes 39 percent of the
total confirmed cases in the country while Ogun had 1,050 confirmed cases,
according to data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The call
Mr Ayokunle
maintained that the lockdown of places of worship in Lagos and Ogun is
unjustified as against the PTFA’s directive on communal worship nationwide.
“Despite the directive given by the Presidential Task Force
on COVID-19 with regard to the reopening of places of worship nationwide, some
states like Lagos and Ogun have yet to allow worship places. What sin have the
places of worship committed?”
He said the Christian body agreed with the government on the
need to close down places of worship, economy, schools and every other facet of
life during the sudden outbreak of the contagion.
But with the reopening of the economy, especially markets,
and plans for airport and school reopening, it was expected to reopen the
church too as its “closure anywhere in the country is no longer tenable and
acceptable.
“In what way are the opened and roadside markets more
organised than the church which warranted their opening? Is it not our members
in the places of worship that do go to markets? Why are they allowed to go to
markets and disallowed from going to places of worship? Is it because the
marketers cannot contract the virus in the markets and airports?” the CAN
president said.
But the Lagos government said it was illogical to compare
markets with worship centres as regards COVID-19 response.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotosho, in an interview with PUNCH, said the decision to close worship centres in Lagos was agreed on by the state government and the religious leaders.
“With due respect to the Christian Association of Nigeria,
that kind of comparison is not logical. The decision to close worship centres
in Lagos was taken by the religious leaders and the state government. The state
government presented to them facts and figures about the COVID-19 situation in
the state and they saw that it was premature to open worship centres,“ Mr
Omotosho told PUNCH.
The two states said proper consultation was made with CAN before announcing the suspension of the reopening exercises.
However, the Christian body said it was important for the
church to have a role in seeking divine solutions as the government and
scientists scramble for a cure to the pandemic.
“It is our opinion that while the government and other
relevant stakeholders are working hard to get a cure for the COVID-19 pandemic,
the church too has a role to play by seeking divine solutions as well.”
It finally appealed to Lagos, Ogun and other state governments where churches are still under lockdown to relax it “for God’s sake.”
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