Churches in Abuja flouted restrictions by authorities banning religious gatherings of more than 50 people to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Most of the churches in Nyanya, Karu, Asokoro, Wuse, Jabi and Utako held services with more than 50 worshippers in attendance.
Some of the churches put in place measures to sanitize worshippers before being allowed to the church premises while others could not provide any measure at the church entrances.
Correspondents visiting churches sighted hand washing protocols, hand sanitizers and devices for screening worshippers into the places of worship.
The Pastor in-charge of the Foursquare Gospel Church Asokoro, Pastor Daniel Chinoko, said, “Unfortunately, the directive came to us late. But we have put in place measure to comply with the directives of the authorities. Hand sanitizers, hand washing tools and even screening devices were deployed in order to safeguard the lives of the people.
“The seating arrangement in the church was also made in clusters of families. Families sit together and spaces were provided between them. This will be the last service until further notice as bible studies will be done online” he added.
Contrary to the usual atmosphere of Sundays when worshipper’s troop into churches to perform their services, the number has significantly reduced around the city centre and suburb communities of the nation’s capital.
The restriction in the FCT followed similar action by the Lagos state government where the first case of the coronavirus was recorded in Nigeria.
Before noon on Sunday, the number of confirmed cases in Abuja had risen to four.
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