Churches were put under lock in Bauchi state as worshipers deserted them in compliance to the government orders banning all forms of social gathering including religious gathering as part of measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus virus.
Our correspondent who went round churches within the state capital observed total compliance to the lockdown order.
When contacted, the Cleric in charge of Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), Local Church Council ( LCC) Wuntin Dada, Rev. Joseph Danladi said his church will remain shut pending when government lift the orders because God commanded the church to obey constituted authorities.
“If we want to be safe in this situation we have to comply with government directives, and I thank God that my church has complied very well”, he said.
According to him, “what my members did is, they divided themselves into ten ten or fifteen, fifteen to pray in their houses concerning this global pandemic so that God will bring it to an end”.
He said that the church has ordered members to engage in fervent prayers and fasting for God to intervene, adding that “if people will continue to abide by measures put on ground by the Government, the pandemic will certainly end one day”.
The reverend who said his faith in Christ remained unshakable because no situation surpasses God, prayed God to bring to end, the current pandemic that has claimed many lives across the world.
Also, the Rev. Musa M. Buba in charge of ECWA, LC Wuntin Dada, said his church did not hold the usual Sunday service in compliance to government orders.
“Honestly speaking, this decision has greatly affected the way we use to conduct our usual Sunday services, my members did not find it easy, because as you are seeing now, the church is locked.
He said in order not to be far from God they have divided members into five, five so that they can worship God without necessarily gathering in large numbers as it used to be pending when the restriction order will be lifted.
On whether the church is disturbed with the order, he said, “we are not at all, because God has taught us in the bible that ‘if my people that are call by my name can humble themselves and repent from their inequities and call on my name, I will listen from heaven and heal their land”.
The cleric who attributed the current pandemic to the sins been committed by mankind against God, urges Nigerians, irrespective of their religious inclination to return to God and seek for forgiveness and things will be well with them.
For Mr Shola Odeleye, a member of first Baptist church said he could not attend the usual Sunday service because the church auditorium was locked in obedience to the order of the government.
He called on the people of Bauchi state to intensify awareness campaigns about the disease so that people will know that it is real.
“We were just taking it as a small thing but it is a big issue that is threatening mankind that is why government took this decision of banning public gathering, so we have to comply”, Mr. Odeleye said.
He said his staying away from the church will never change his belief in God, adding that, “as I am speaking to you now, I just came out from morning devotion in my house with my family”.
Odeleye like others said “as for my offerings and tith, we have various channels of remitting them and we are going to use them”.
Shola who said with time, the pandemic will fizzle out, called on Nigerians irrespective of their faiths to continue to pray for God to intervene.
Another worshipper with the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), LCC Wuntin Dada, Mrs Fimwuri Kayellawos said her faith in God has remained unshaken in the midst of the pandemic.
She said that the order of the government was in line with its constitutional duties of protecting lives of its citizens.
“This restriction has not affected my relationship with God. Because I didn’t worship God in the church does not mean I am far from him. Church is a building while the people are the ones that constitute the church. So, we have successfully worshiped God in our own ways as occasioned by the current pandemic”, Fimwuri noted.
According to her, “the church is in us as the believers, our bodies are the temple of God, and as for me, I have relationship with God 24 hours and not only in the church”.
Mrs. Fimwuri who said she, alongside few others had their Sunday service at home maintained that social distancing was carefully observed.
On his part, a former Secretary of LCC Church of Christ in Nations, Wuntin Dada, Elder Kayellawos Yohanna Iliya believed that the restrictions placed on social gatherings was part of measures to contain the spread of the Coronavirus disease.
“Personally, this restriction has re-enforced my relationship with God because of the impact of this COVID -19 and the way it has defied all forms of modern medicine. Science, actually, has failed mankind this time around, and so we have to go back to God because that is very fundamental with this situation.
Recalled that, Governor Bala Mohammed had in a state wide broadcast on Thursday, imposed a lockdown order in the state, barring social gatherings including religious ones to curb the spread of COVID-19 Pandemic.
