BY ERIC OLUSESAN
Pastor Tunde Bakare, the serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC), has warned against the reopening of churches as directed by the Lagos State Government.
During his online sermon on Sunday, he urged Christians not to let any religious leader or government official, to lead them like a sheep to the slaughterhouse.
“I have to appeal to you once again, please keep safe and do your best to stay alive. Do not let anyone, whether religious leader or governmental leader, to drive you like a sheep to the slaughter”, Bakare, whose church used to be known as The Latter Rain Assembly said.
“If they (the government and the disease control authorities) said that the month of August is going to be the peak of the infection, why should they ask people to rush in (re-open the churches) again?
“Please keep safe and do your best to keep alive by keeping all the necessary rules.
“We know that by the grace of God this pandemic like the others before it has an expiry date. It shall not see our end. We shall see its end in the mighty name of Jesus.”
On Saturday, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced the opening of worship centres from 7 August.
Churches and mosques were shut in late March 2020, to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
Town Crier gathered that the reported cases of newly infected people have reduced in the past week with today 3rd August listed as having the lowest number of cases-304-in 2 weeks. Also last week Monday 27th July recorded 809 discharged in a single day. This has led to closure of 3 Isolation Centers so far in Lagos State, the epicentre of the pandemic in Nigeria Presently, 4 per cent or 888 of the concluded 21,196 cases were listed as mortal cases showing a 96 per cent recovery rate from the infection.
This means that 96 out of every 100 people with COVID-19 are discharged within 2 weeks and it is therefore certainly not a death sentence.
We believe that God’s hand has been the staying Hand against the disease and so not going to Church is certainly not the solution to the pandemic. Going to Church among other covenant steps like praying is therefore the solution.
With the way events are playing out, everything should be back to normal in or before November 2020 by God’s grace.