COVID 19: El Rufai May Allow Eid Prayers In Kaduna, Islamic Cleric Warns Him

By Tosin Olatokunbo

Amid speculations that Governor Nasir El –Rufai of Kaduna state could join his other counterparts to allow Eid prayers held in the state, a fiery Islamic scholar, Ahmad Gumi, has warned the state’s helmsman to bury the idea.

Governor El Rufai had met with some Islamic leaders in the state, who the magazine learnt begged that Islamic faithful in the state be allowed to hold the prayer, which normally holds a day after the end of the Ramadan fasting.

The governments of Borno, Yobe and Kano among others have already okayed the yearly congregational ritual prayer to hold.

But Gumi, told journalists in Kaduna that doing do will lead to more COVID 19 infections in the state.

The state had so far recorded close to 150 COVID-19 cases, one of the highest in the country.

According to the popular cleric, the governor should reject the pressure on him to sustain gains already made against the spread of the novel disease in the state.

He stated that it will be very difficult to control the congregants during the prayers on following government’s regulations on safety measures.

Gumi said “Once you allow people to come and pray,  they are going to troop out in thousands you cannot control. And the point is that we have stayed for  over two months under lockdown. We are afraid that one single day will come and spoil all the gains that we have had,” he said.

Kaduna is one of the states that has the least infection rates. We can see deaths in hundreds, in all the core-northern states like Sokoto, Katsina, Kano, Yobe, Borno. But Alhamdulillah,  because Kaduna had gone into lockdown earlier than all the states, we have less infection rates than the other states. Nobody can deny this fact.”

He said the governor should consult wide before taking such critical decision.

Governor El Rufai must consider it “important that political leaders consult other sectors of the society, religious leaders, traditional leaders, professionals, on issues that concern the state,” Gumi said before removing the lock down