By Armstrong Tseaa
The Benue State University, Makurdi has put in place measures in place to enforce strict adherence to the Nigerian Center for Diseases Control (NCDC) protocols on COVID 19 prevention. Students, visitors and members of staff of the University were seen this morning wearing on their face masks, washing their hands before gaining access to the university. Few who did not complied with the directive were denied entrance into the school.
It could be recalled that the school was closed down for an internal wrangling by the local Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in February 2020 before the emergency of COVID 19 and subsequent lock down.
Relatedly, yesterday members of the Universal Reformed Christian Church (URCC) formerly known as ‘Nongo u Kristu u Ken Sudan hen Tiv-NKST’, Yina, Akpehe, Makurdi, the capital city of Benue State; who did not wear face masks were denied access to the English Sunday service by the church leadership.
URCC especially NKST Yina, is an evangelistic, youth-friendly but law abiding corporate entity that has been in the forefront of the fight against the spread of the corona virus pandemic since it inception in 2020.
The church has installed hand washing buckets, liquid detergents and enforced strict adherence to the Nigerian Center for Diseases Control, NCDC protocols of social distancing (now members sit three on a pew) as against eight or ten before the emergency of COVID 19.
The writing and launching of a book ‘ COVID 19: Begha Ta Kume’: meaning the Lion (God) has roared, written by the resident pastor, Rev. Dr. Kurugh Antiev has helped sensitised members lucidly on the prophetic, medical and social methods of preventing and managing the pandemic in the church, homes and other social gatherings.
In another development, a lay preacher Mr. A. Tion, in a sermon taken from Revelation 21:1-9, encouraged the congregation to lean on and trust Jesus Christ to overcome daily challenges of life including the COVID 19 pandemic that has so far defied man’s efforts and is yet ravaging humanity globally.
