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St Peter's Basilica, Rome.

The Catholic Church of Nigeria has withdrawn its membership from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

The Diocesan Administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Abeokuta, Monsignor Christopher Ajala, at a news conference yesterday, stated that the Catholic Church suspended its activities in CAN because of its closeness to the government.

However, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) yesterday, debunked statement that the church had pulled out of CAN.

The Director Communication, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Raulph Madu, maintained that the CBCN did not pull out of CAN, and that, the body was only trying to sought out some issues with national Christian body.

He said the body only withdrew temporarily from CAN, which would only last for few weeks, adding that, therewas no squabble between the two religious bodies.

According to him, "how can we pull out of CAN, we are just trying to iron out some issues with them, which are not palatable to us and it is only going to last for a few weeks"

"We will always be in support of the national body; some of our bishops are heads of CAN in some states, like Owerri, among others."