President Muhammadu Buhari this afternoon attended the first Juma’t prayers at the State House Mosque after the new Covid-19 guidelines on religious gathering were released.
He was joined by his senior personal aides at the prayers, which were also attended by Villa senior staff members (Grade Level 14 and above) who were on duty today.
All of them were thoroughly screened and had to each wear a mask as well as sanitize their hands, as safety measures.
Social distancing was also strictly observed in line with guidelines on public gathering; while visitors to the Villa who wanted to join the prayers were politely bared from the mosque by presidential security aides.
The Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 on Tuesday released new guidelines to ease the lockdown, saying worship centres will only be permitted to operate for a maximum of one hour each time.
The Coordinator of the Task Force, Sani Aliyu, had announced that for Muslims, Friday congregational prayers in mosques should not exceed one hour.
“Mosques may open 15 minutes before and 10 minutes after prayers. The total time for Friday prayers should not exceed an hour”, he had said.
The the guidelines also strongly discouraged all close contact including shaking hands, hugging, kissing, handing out of materials and sharing of worship implements like prayer mats, musical organs, microphones, etc.
No Comments