Abuja, 09 April, 2020 / 8:04 am (ACI Africa).
In a move to boost Nigeria government’s efforts to contain COVID-19 in the country, Catholic Bishops in Africa’s most populous nation have granted their country’s task force overseeing the pandemic “full access to” all health facilities, which the Catholic Church owns, a Church official has reported.
The members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) granted Nigeria’s Presidential Task Force committee, a select group of individuals appointed by the Government to lead the fight against COVID-19, “full access to 435 Catholic hospitals and clinics in Nigeria,” the Secretary General of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Fr. Zachariah Samjumi reported Wednesday, April 8.
“Considering the grave danger posed by COVID-19 pandemic, the world over, and in particular, Nigeria, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), today 8 April 2020, paid a solidarity visit with the Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF), who is also the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force committee,” Fr. Zachariah stated in a report seen by ACI Africa.
Led by the Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Nigeria’s Abuja Archdiocese, CBCN delegation “acknowledged the excellent efforts of the Government in curtailing COVID-19,” Fr. Zachariah noted.
Nigeria has reported at least 276 confirmed cases of COVID-19; 44 patients have recovered and six have died of the disease that has claimed more than 88,400 lives globally.