Lagos, 19 April, 2020 / 6:36 pm (ACI Africa).
The leadership of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos in Nigeria has moved in to support the State in providing for the people of God facing hardships after the government put in place restrictions to help curb the spread of COVID-19, a cleric in the Archdiocese has reported.
“Archbishop Martins said that the task of managing the pandemic and taking care of the less-privileged was enormous and so the government should be supported,” the Director of Social Communications in the Archdiocese of Lagos, Fr. Anthony Godonu reported Friday, April 17, referencing the move by his Local Ordinary, Archbishop Martins Adewale, to provide for the needy in society amid COVID-19.
“We cannot but admit that providing for all the people in our state is a herculean task and it must create its own nightmare for the government,” Fr. Godonu explained the reasoning behind the intervention on the part of the Church leadership and added, “As a Church, we hear the cry of the people as well as understand the challenges of Government.”
Nigeria has recorded at least 542 cases of COVID-19; 19 have died and 166 have recovered.
In a bid to combat the spread of the virus, President Muhammadu Buhari, declared a 14-day lockdown in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun states on March 30. On Monday, April 13, the lockdown was extended by another two weeks.