Churches remain shut in Bauchi as worshippers comply with lockdown

Churches in Bauchi state were empty on Sunday, as worshippers deserted them in compliance to the state government’s orders banning all forms of social gathering including religious ones as part of measures to contain the spread of coronavirus disease.

Recall that Governor Bala Mohammed had in a statewide broadcast on Thursday, imposed a lockdown in the state, barring social gatherings including religious ones to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

Our correspondent who went round churches within the state capital, observed a total compliance to the lockdown order as they remained under padlock.

When contacted, the pastor in charge of Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), Wuntin Dada, Rev. Joseph Danladi said his church will remain shut pending when government lift the order because God commands the church to obey constituted authority.

“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.

“What my members did is, they divided themselves into 10 or 15 per group to pray in their houses concerning this global pandemic, so that God will bring it to an end,” Danladi said.

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 state government, the pandemic will certainly end one day.”

The cleric, who said his faith in Christ remains unshakable because no situation surpasses God, prayed God to bring to an end, the current pandemic that has claimed many lives across the world.

Also, Rev. Musa Buba in charge of ECWA, 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,” Dada stated.

He said in order not to be far from God, they divided members into five per group, 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 called 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, urged Nigerians, irrespective of their religious inclination to return to God and seek for forgiveness, and things will be well with the country.

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 state 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, which is why government took this decision of banning public gatherings, 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.

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“As for my offerings and tithe, we have various channels of remitting them and we are going to use them.”

Odeleye, 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), 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 state government was in line with its constitutional duties of protecting the 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. The church is a building while the people are the ones that constitute the church.

“So, we have successfully worshiped God in our own way, as occasioned by the current pandemic,” Keyellawos noted.

She added that “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.”

According to her, she alongside a few others had their Sunday service at home, maintaining 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.