The religious centres were closed in March as a part of measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus. The Federal and state governments have given religious organizations the go-ahead to reopen for worship. The approval came with conditions such a mandatory social distancing, wearing of masks, and other protocols. Despite the approval, some church leaders like Pastor Tunde Bakare of Latter Rain Assembly Lagos; Pastor Sam Adeyemi of Daystar Christian Centre Lagos; Pastor Poju Oyemade of Covenant Christian Centre Lagos, and Pastor Paul Adefarasin of House on the Rock, Lagos, have refused to reopen their centres.

While preaching in his church on Wednesday, August 19, Oyakhilome said such pastors have denied the faith and are no longer believers

He said “If you refuse to open the church for fear of being infected, you were never a believer. This is a great concern because there were churches that were thought to be churches until recently. We find a lot of ministers who were thought to be advocates of the gospel advocating for shutting down the churches because they cannot guarantee safety. It is pressure like this that reveals what is a church and what is not. Do they really believe in God, the same God of the patriarchs in the Bible? When you get to that point where you are afraid of opening churches for fear of being infected, you have denied the faith. You never believed”