COVID-19: Akeredolu bows to pressure, cancels Easter services

…as Ondo records fresh coronavirus confirmed case

The Ondo State government has announced the cancellation of the Easter Day celebration as the state recorded a fresh confirmed case of coronavirus.

In a statement signed by the state Commissioner for Information, Donald Ojogo, on Saturday, said the decision was taken after consultations with the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN).

He noted that all measures are previously taken to curtail the spread of the virus still stands.

This was after the federal government had admonished some state governors to stop playing politics with the directives issued to contain the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) spreading across the country.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, gave the admonition on Friday when he featured on Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) programme, Good Morning Nigeria.

In fact, Ondo was among the six states who had announced they would be relaxing the weeks-long restriction of non-essential movements by residents, thereby putting the lives of thousands of citizens at risk.

But the state government in the new statement noted, “With deep concern the second index case. This development has once again, reinforced the need to deepen our collective efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Ondo State COVID-19 Response Team has reported that the second index case having travelled from Lagos to Ondo State must give the Government greater concern to avoid community transmission.

“Against the backdrop of the above, the Ondo State Government has directed the cancellation of the special concession granted Churches across the State to celebrate the Easter Sunday/Service. This decision was taken after due consultations with the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)” it stated.

Meanwhile, the new data released by the NCDC, on Friday evening, 17 new cases were recorded in seven states: Lagos, Katsina, FCT, Niger, Kaduna, Anambra and Ondo, bringing the total confirmed cases to 305. Ondo state has Ondo have two cases.