The Acting Chairman of Benue CAN, Rev. Jonathan Terwase Ugbede, described the allegation as false and baseless, insisting that the governor had never considered demolishing the secretariat.
The clarification followed reports circulating on social media alleging that the Benue State Government had concluded plans to pull down the CAN secretariat.
The Benue State Government had earlier denied the claim. In a statement, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Solomon Iorpev, described the report as false and said no plan to demolish the secretariat had been conceived, discussed or contemplated by the government.
According to Iorpev, Governor Alia maintains respect for religious institutions in Benue and continues to support and partner with CAN and other religious organisations in the state.
He urged members of the public and the media to disregard the report, stressing that it does not represent the position or intention of the state government.
Following the government’s clarification, Benue CAN also urged Christians and residents of the state not to panic over the report.
Ugbede welcomed the government’s response and appealed to those responsible for circulating the claim to stop spreading information that could create tension between the Church and the government.
The CAN leadership also appealed to politicians not to drag the Church into partisan politics and urged Christians to remain calm.
The controversy comes amid concerns over the spread of unverified information on social media. The Benue Government warned that deliberate fabrication and circulation of false information capable of causing public disaffection or disturbing peace could attract legal consequences under Nigerian law.
For now, both the Benue State Government and the state CAN leadership have rejected the claim that there is a plan to demolish the CAN secretariat in Makurdi.
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