FCT minister bans eid prayers at open grounds
As part of the effort to contain the third wave of the COVID-19, the Minister of the FCT, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, has banned the holding of eid prayers at the National Eid Prayer Ground along the Umaru Musa Yar’adua Expressway.
According to a statement by the minister’s spokesman, Mr Anthony Ogunleye, the decision was arrived at after Malam Bello, on Monday, chaired a meeting of the FCTA and a delegation from the FCT League of Imams Initiative led by its Chairman, Imam (Dr) Tajudeen M.B. Adigun, to discuss the modalities of holding eid prayers for the upcoming Eid el-Fitr.
The statement reads in part: “All worshippers are enjoined to hold eid prayers outdoors within the premises of their neighborhood Juma’at mosques
“Indoor worships are to be limited to less than 50 per cent of installed capacity.
“Religious authorities are advised to regulate the flow of people entering and exiting places of worship.
“All non-pharmaceutical intervention protocols of facial covering, physical distancing and hand washing are to be observed.
“All other eid celebrations and activities should be confined to homes as all public parks, recreation and entertainment centres are to be closed.”
The minister thanked the religious leaders for their cooperation in the battle against COVID-19 in the FCT, stressing that having gone through the first and second waves of the pandemic that caused more fatalities and had increased number of positives, it was imperative to prevent a possible third wave as was being witnessed in some countries across the world.
Malam Bello said, “Consequently, based on presentations made by officials of the Health and Human Services Secretariat of the FCTA and the Implementation Guidelines for Phased Restriction of Movement issued by the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 on Monday, May 10, 2021, we came up with the guidelines.”
Dr Adigun, while speaking on behalf of the league of imams, said, “In Islam, you listen to experts; those who are specialists, and those who have actually discussed with us are experts in the field of medical sciences. In Islam, you also abide with the commands of leadership.
“Based on this and what we are convinced of, we urge the Muslim Ummah to also respect this stand of the administration of the FCT by observing our eid prayers within our localities.”