The Akwa Ibom State government said it has sealed off the headquarters of the popular pentecostal church, Christ Embassy, in Uyo.
Chairman of the state COVID-19 Management Committee, and Secretary to State Government, (SSG) Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen Sunday in Uyo.
He stated that the pastors and members of Christ Embassy Church attacked and brutalized COVID-19 monitoring team who were at the church on Sunday to monitor compliance with the guidelines and protocols adopted to prevent community spread of coronavirus in the state.
He maintained that the pastors and relevant members of the church would be made to face the wrath of the law.
“In response to this act of lawlessness by that church and in order to avoid the risk of community transmission of COVID-19 in Akwa Ibom State, the Christ Embassy Church building and premises are hereby sealed up with immediate effect till further notice,” Mr Ekuwem said in the statement.
“The suspected pastors and relevant members of the church will be made to face the wrath of the law,” he added.
Christ Embassy has, however, denied the claims made by the Akwa Ibom government.
The government, the church said in a statement, acted “based on tissues of lies and absolute falsehood that only occurred in the figment of the imaginations of those peddling same”.
The statement, signed by Mr Kelvin James, a pastor, said the church was already done with its Sunday service when the monitoring team arrived, and that a church worker who filmed the arrival of the team was assaulted and a church camera confiscated from him.
“While we are not against the state government carrying out its statutory duties, we state with all amount of humility that Christ Embassy Church has existed in our dear state for over twenty five years without any issue with any of the past governments or any association, rather we have contributed immensely to the development of the state through our several people oriented projects and word based ministry.
“We have been partners in development with the Akwa Ibom State Government and chosen to remain bipartisan at all times.
“We totally condemn the closing down of our Church and detention of our Pastor, Pastor Emmanuel Effiong, who has been detained by the Commissioner of Police, without giving us the right to fair hearing and state that this action is borne out of malice, deep seated hatred and calculated attempt to malign the Church for disassociating herself from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
“We call on the Akwa Ibom State Government to unconditionally release Pastor Emmanuel Effiong, the church camera which captured a true reflection of what transpired today and withdraw the order closing our Church,” Mr James stated.
It would be recalled that the state governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel had approved June 7, 2020, for the reopening of Churches in the state after adopting the guidelines recommended by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the state.
