New Year: Enugu Churches Excited As Govt Denies Cancelling Cross-Over Night Activities

Against speculations that the Enugu State government had cancelled cross-over night activities on 31st December, 2020, which usually characterize New Year celebrations, the state commissioner for information, Nnanyelugo Chidi Aroh, says ‘the said cancellation refers strictly to the cross-over night activities organised by the Enugu State government’.

Mr Aroh spoke against the reactions on the matter by religious leaders after the announcement earlier in the week. Pastor David Johnson, who has a church at Abakpa, told our correspondent on Thursday that, “The decision of the state government to allow churches to hold cross-over night activities is a welcome development. We need prayers for our nation. We are going into a new year. Prayers can avert the effects of Covid-19.

“I’m not saying that Covid-19 is not real. We have learnt our lessons through the knowledge provided us by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, and the Ministry of Health. So, we have adopted those protocols in our various churches. The same thing will be done during the cross-over activities.”

A Catholic, Mrs Chekwube Ilonuba, said, “We thank the state government for relaxing it this way. I have always spent my December 31 at Adoration Ministries ground for spiritual revival. I thank the government for looking into our complaints.”

Our correspondent reports that the state information commissioner said the suspension of cross-over activities ‘was occasioned by government’s commitment to discourage the gathering of a multitude of people in order to contain and curtail the spread of the second wave of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) currently ravaging Nigeria and other countries’.

According to him, “The attention of the Enugu State government has been drawn to conflicting interpretations arising from an earlier public service announcement, which cancelled the conventional cross-over night activities on December 31, 2020. Consequently, it has become imperative to clarify that the said cancellation refers strictly to the cross-over night activities organised by the Enugu State government. The decision was occasioned by the government’s commitment to discourage the gathering of a multitude of people in order to contain and curtail the spread of the second wave of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) currently ravaging Nigeria and other countries.

“The state government also implores individuals, groups and religious organisations to ensure the strict observance of all the protocols stipulated by the NCDC while carrying out the cross-over activities.”