To curb the spread of the novel Coronavirus in Kaduna state, Muslim leaders have decided to cancel all congregational prayers for the upcoming Eid ul Fitr celebration this Saturday.
They communicated this decision to the state governor, Nasir El-Rufai during a meeting on May 19. Sheik Ahmed Gumi, speaking on behalf of the clerics, stated that Muslims in the state are expected to pray in their homes on Sallah day. He emphasized that allowing people to gather at the mosque on Saturday would jeopardize the progress made by the state government in combating COVID-19.
”Our Nation is not like Saudi Arabia where we can say maybe just 50 people can come out and pray. Once you allow people to come out, then they are going to troop out in thousands that you cannot control them. We have stayed for two months on Lockdown.
We are afraid that one single day will come and spoil all the gains we have made because Kaduna is one of the states that has the least infection rates.
You could see deaths in hundreds in all the core Northern states from Sokoto, Katsina, Kano, Yobe, but because Kaduna had gone into lockdown earlier than all these states, we have little infection rates than the other states” stated Sheik Ahmed Gumi.
Currently, Kaduna state has recorded 145 confirmed cases of COVID-19 according to NCDC data.