Ondo and Rivers state governments on Saturday announced the cancellation of the Easter Sunday church services which they had earlier granted.
Ondo State made the U-turn following the confirmation of a second case of COVID-19 in the state.
The government had earlier lifted the ban placed on the restriction of movement in the state to enable the Christians to worship in their churches on Easter Sunday.
This had followed an agreement reached between the state governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, and the leadership of CAN in the state.
But in a statement by the state Commissioner for Information, Mr Donald Ojogo, on Saturday, the government said there would be no church service on Easter Sunday. It said all Christians should worship in their houses.
According to the statement, the government said the emergence of the second COVID-19 case in the state had once again reinforced the need to “deepen our collective efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Also, Rivers State had in March asked churches to restrict the number of worshippers to 50.
But the state government on Thursday temporarily relaxed the restriction on large religious gatherings to enable Christians to carry out their religious obligations during the Easter period.
The state Governor, Nyesom Wike, said the directive also permitted Muslims to observe their Jumat within the period.
However, making a U-turn, the government said in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mr Paulinus Nsirim, that the state government had cancelled the concession earlier granted churches to hold full Easter church service.
The statement read,
“The Rivers State Government has cancelled the concession granted churches to hold Easter church services with their full congregations.
“This decision was taken after due consultations with eminent clergymen, well-meaning Nigerians and civil society groups.”
