A religious group, Coalition of Christians with Conscience, CCC, has claimed that Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has effectively banned Christmas, New Year, Easter and other Christian religious vigils.
In a statement signed on Monday by its President and Secretary, Istifanus Daniel and Paul Musa respectively, the Coalition said that the new Kaduna State Religious Preaching Regulation Law, 2019, contained several areas that will directly affect the worship mode of Christians in Kaduna State.
According to the group, some provisions of the law criminalizes ‘Any person who plays a religious cassette or uses a loud speaker for religious purposes between the hours of 11pm and 4am.’
The statement adds: “This is very disturbing as it means that Christians cannot hold night vigils, celebrate Christmas, Easter and New Year eve in the evenings, which fall typically within those hours. The provision is also divisive as our Muslim brothers are allowed to say their prayers at 5am after the ban for Christians.
“That this law seeks to ‘accredit preachers’ and appoint regulators of faith means that it is the State Government that will determine what is preached or not. Has the State purged itself of its own political woes as to move into the sphere of faith?
“Surely, we are not in a theocracy but a democracy. The state and faith must be well separated. It is surprising that Politicians who use thugs and take over the streets with loudspeakers do not have laws that will regulate them yet think that worshippers are the people to be regulated.
“We the CCC wish to draw the attention of the Kaduna State Government of the violation of our faith which this law will bring. We urge the Governor to reconsider its position and not pass this into law.”
Recall that the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, have asked El-Rufai to rescind his administration’s decision to gazette the new as they alleged that the law had the potentials to incite religious controversies in the State.
