President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN), Rev. Samson Ayokunle said the churches may return to congregational worships by the first Sunday of June.
According to Ayokunle, this will be made possible as the ban on religious gatherings in the country may be lifted before then.
Recall that the Federal Government had placed a ban on religious gatherings in March as part of measures to curtail the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
Ayokunle, in a statement on Wednesday said CAN had been consulting with the Federal Government on the modalities to follow so that lives of worshippers would not be endangered when the churches reopen.
According to him, as the government did not have any fears in opening markets and banks, which are not as organised as the church, there would be no basis for it to entertain fears in opening churches.
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The statement read: “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.”
