A Nigerian, Benjamin Bem Goong has expressed worry over the request by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for churches to be allowed to hold Easter Sunday services.
The Imo State chapter of CAN had appealed to Governor Hope Uzodinma through the state’s COVID-19 Committee to be allowed to celebrate Easter service as it was the most essential in Christendom and commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
But Goong, who’s the press officer for the Federal Ministry of Education, urged CAN to consider public health safety before making such requests.
Making reference to the spike in COVID-19 cases in South Korea, Goong recalled that the country experienced outbreak after an infected individual went to church.
Although, it was not yet clear if CAN at the national level made a similar request to the federal government, Goong comment repeatedly alluded to it.
He said: “I am worried about CAN taking permission from the Federal government to hold Easter celebrations in churches. The question I am asking is that; will CORONAVIRUS understand that CAN took permission from the Federal Government before doing its celebrations? One sneeze from a victim during such ceremonies will afflict hundreds of people, and then, contact tracing will become the responsibility of government and not CAN.
“It happened in South Korea in the church. My heart bleads in the sense that once CAN says come and the Federal Government says go, you will see so many ignorant people in these churches including professors and medical personnel.
“Leaders of CAN must stop this madness. They can only worship God if they are alive. They must also realise that luring others to the church to go and die by Coronavirus in the name of any ceremony is a crime before God.