Nigerians have reacted to suggestions by the Presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church Worldwide, David Oyedepo, and Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, of the Christ Embassy, that locking down churches because of the Covid-19 pandemic was wrong.
Newsmen spoke to some residents of the federal capital territory on the controversy.
Mr Thomas Ojukwu, in kubwa, said there was a need for people to understand the gravity of the virus and not be “too religious” about things.
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“People can drop dead even in churches. If these Pastors can, let them go to isolation centers to heal the people.”
On her part, a fashion designer in Wuse, Jeniffer Ike, said comparing the church to the market sounded so myopic as ”anything happening inside church can be done inside our house. Pray, fast, sing, dance.”
However, Mr Akpan Cletus, a civil servant, said the government could not take away the place of physical gathering.
“ Go back to the days of the bible, people had to come together physically to cause change.”
A youth who did not reveal his name, however, said the first priority in life was human safety and not people gathering.
According to him, he has been joining his church live streaming of sermons since the lockdown began and saw no reason why people can’t worship from home.
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Describing the experience, he said: “l must confess that so far so good. It has been as good as being present in the church.
Let us all think of our safety by doing social distancing.”
Mrs Dorothy Oyema said the religious leaders asking that the ban on gatherings be lifted were only concerned about the drop in their church revenue since worshippers could no longer pay tithes and give offering.
“Only the greedy ones will call for lifting of ban on public gatherings.”
“Do people go to the market because they want to or because they need to? I can pray with my family in my room. But no one sells tomato in my room.,” she added.
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Mr Joshua Ademola, another resident and church worker, admitted that “offering and tithes commitments have reduced,” but defended the call for lifting of the ban because “Not everyone is technological inclined. What do u want all those old orthodox churches to do?.”
According to him, the church was feeling disconnected and believed it is understandable if a pastor feels concerned about the congregation’s spirituality.
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