WE ARE NOT IN SUPPORT OF KADUNA STATE RELIGIOUS BILL ...PFN

 WE ARE NOT IN SUPPORT OF KADUNA STATE RELIGIOUS BILL ...PFN

The Kaduna state chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has kicked against the executive bill by the Kaduna state government on the regulation of religious preaching, saying that the bill was obnoxious and directly offensive to Christianity.

Addressing a news conference in Kaduna, state chairman of the PFN, Prof. Femi Ehinmidu said the PFN was opposed to the bill in its entirety and shall do everything legal to ensure that the rights of Christians to preach the gospel is not curtailed. 

Meanwhile, The Kaduna State Government has defended its controversial Religious Preaching Bill currently before the state House of Assembly.
The bill’s provisions, seen as seeking to curb religious freedoms, have caused widespread outrage.
The government said Wednesday the legislation was aimed at curbing religious extremism and hate speech.
The state government had in February sent the executive bill “For A Law To Substitute The Kaduna State Religious Preaching Law, 1984”.
The legislation requires a preacher in Kaduna State to obtain preaching permit. It bans residents from playing evangelical tapes and CDs in public places and allows loud speakers to be used only inside churches and mosques but not beyond 8.00pm.
According to the bill, violators are liable to a fine of N200, 000.
The bill has generated intense debate among residents and clerics of Christianity and Islam, the two major religions in the state.

“There is nothing in the Bill that suggests any effort to abolish, stop or derogate on the freedom of religion and religious beliefs. It merely seeks to ensure that religious preaching and activities in the State are conducted in ways that do not threaten public order, public safety, and to protect the rights and freedom of other persons, According to the deputy governor of the state, Barnabas Bantex, who told a delegation of the Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) led by its chairman, Bishop George Dogo, that the government had a duty to ensure that religious violence no longer threatened the state.