The Christian Association of Nigeria has expressed optimism that by first Sunday in June all our churches would reopen for congregational worship.
The president of CAN, Rev Samson Ayokunle who expressed the hope in a statement yesterday said the body was in discussion with the federal government on the modalities to follow.
“As a law-abiding institution, the church in Nigeria and the Christian Association of Nigeria that binds all of us together complied, hitherto, with government’s directive suspending church services for the past eight weeks now.
“However, the Church is well prepared for resumption of worship and as one of the most organised institutions in the country with trained leadership and good guidance by the Scripture.
“We are in discussions with the federal government and are drawing the guidelines that churches would follow in order not to endanger the life of any worshipper and equally prevent COVID-19 infection.
“We are sure of compliance if the government allows our compliance team to work hand-in-hand with their law enforcement agencies to monitor compliance. If the government didn’t entertain any fear in opening markets and banks which are not as organised as the church, why should government entertain fear about the compliance of the church?
“We are hopeful that latest by the first Sunday in June, all our churches would open again for congregational worship under COVID-19 prevention regulations. As I said before, we are consulting with the government on this,” said Ayokunle.
It would be recalled that the ban in religious worship was among the safety precautions the government introduced to combat the coronavirus disease in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, CAN, the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 met on Wednesday over the issue of reopening places of worship.
Part of the recommendations by CAN, which was led by the chairman, North Central Rev Dr Israel Akanji and the FCT CAN chairman Rev Dr Jonah Samson, was that churches should disinfect their premises before reopening while physical distancing should be observed in sitting arrangements with a one-metre space between two worshippers.
The association provided that, for a start, churches should hold one-hour services and that all Sunday services should end by 5:30p.m.
To avoid crowding, CAN said there should be a 10-minute lapse between multiple services.
Others were that churches should provide alcoholic sanitisers, temperature readers, soap and water on their premises to be supervised by medical professionals in the church; every worshipper must use soap to wash his/her hands or apply sanitisers; the temperature of worshippers must be screened before they are admitted and people with the high recordings should be advised to see a doctor.
Every worshipper must wear a face mask; churches may use classrooms and multipurpose halls for services, where available, to accommodate more worshippers at once, and TV circuit and speakers can be used for those who are not inside the main auditorium.
Handshaking and hugging should be avoided before, during and after the service; children should worship with their parents; prayers should be offered to God for a speedy end of COVID-19 and quick recovery of patients; CAN would constitute a committee alongside law enforcement agencies to ensure compliance.
The NSCIA wanted worship to be held at the same hour in accordance with Qur’anic injunctions while children should be exempted.
The PTF promised to prepare its own recommendations, which would be presented to President Muhammadu Buhari.
The president would, in turn, peruse the document and deliver his resolution at a national broadcast expected on Monday.
