El-Rufai orders closure of churches, hospital

Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has ordered the closure of two churches, a seminary school and one hospital in Saminaka, Lere local government area of the state.
The governor ordered that the institutions be closed down immediately to prevent breakdown of law and order in the area.


The closure, according to the governor, was as a result of prolonged leadership crisis in the Assemblies of God Church (AGC) in the area.
A statement issued by the governor’s Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan, on Wednesday indicated that the measure was taken at the end of the state security council meeting.

El-Rufai said the step taken by the government was to forestall any form of sectarian crisis in the local government and by extension the state. He gave the names of the affected religious institutions as – Theological Seminary of Northern Nigeria, (TSNN) Saminaka, Shalom Comprehensive College, Saminaka, Assemblies of God Church, Nmbare, Saminaka and Assemblies of God Church (Jerusalem) Saminaka, and the AGC Evangelist Hospital, Saminaka.
The governor warned that his administration would not tolerate the use of religion and ethnicity by any individual or groups to cause crisis in the state.