By Beauty John, LAFIA
Nasarawa state government has banned congregational prayers and ordered the shut down of all neighborhood mosques across the state, ahead of the coming month of Ramadan.
The governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule disclosed this in during a stakeholders meeting at the Nasarawa State government house in Lafia.
“In a further bid to contain the spread of COVID-19, the Nasarawa State Government, has banned all congregational prayers,
ordering the shutdown of all neighbourhood mosques across the state, ahead of the coming month of Ramadan”, he said .
The Governor expressed concern that following the spread of COVID-19 in the country, there was need to review government’s strategy on controlling and containing the spread of the virus, particularly with the approach of the holy month of Ramadan.
Security chiefs, some senior traditional rulers, religious leaders and other top government officials, at the instance of the governor, unanimously arrived at the decision to ban all congregational prayers, including the five daily obligatory prayers this month of Ramadan, to protect the people from contracting and spreading of COVID-19 virus in the state.
Speaking on behalf of the traditional rulers, the Emir of Lafia, who doubles as the Chairman, Nasarawa State Council of Chiefs, HRH Justice Sidi Bage, called on the people to be law abiding and to follow government directives.
He said that “It’s the decision of government that all over the state, this Ramadan that we are approaching, there will be no congregation for Tarawih, no congregation for Tahajjud.
The royal father warned that Muslim faithfuls in the state, are by this order, advised to observe all these prayers at home, as security agents are on ground to enforce the order.
Also present at the meeting is the Nasarawa State Commissioner of Police, Bola Longe, who sternly warned that anybody found disobeying the order issued by the government will be severely punished.
“Security agencies will not allow law breakers to operate at will in Nasarawa State. We will monitor them, we will fish them out, we will arrest them and prosecute them, ” he said.
The police chief assured the people that all entry and exit points in the state will be adequately policed to prevent persons who may want to bring COVID-19 in to the state.
