COVID-19: Nigerian Government Issues Strong Warning To Church Leaders Over Recklessness

The Nigerian Government has warned the churche leaders and Christians to stop the “exhibition of reckless confidence” over the coronavirus disease.

Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, issued the warning on Sunday, July5, 2020, while speaking at an interdenominational church service organised by the Nigerian Interreligious Council (NIREC) in Abuja.

Mustapha advised churche leaders to advise their members on how to stay safe for themselves, their families and for the body of Christ. He said:

“You can see that this virus has confounded and confused the entire world. It has brought the democracies and economies that existed for the last 300 years to their knees. It has overwhelmed them and what makes you think that it cannot overwhelm us?

“The Church should stop the exhibition of reckless confidence and tell their congregations to do the proper thing which stays safe for themselves, their families and the body of Christ.

“If you have no business going out, stay at home and it is scriptural Proverbs 14:16 says “A wise man sees danger and cautiously avoids evil, but the fool rageth, and is confident.”

“I see a lot of Christians exhibiting reckless confidence and the Bible describes them as fools.

“Stay at home if you have no business leaving your house, that is the safest place you have but if you have a genuine reason to go out. Wear a face mask and wear it properly.”

The SGF noted that COVID-19 came with all forms of unpredictabilities and all over the world, there hasn’t been an established protocol for treatment and only the non-pharmaceutical interventions remain the most effective fighting opportunity to overcome the pandemic.

Meanwhile, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Nigeria recorded 544 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the total number of infection in the country to 28,711.