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A Sokoto State cleric, Sheikh Bello Yabo, was arrested for releasing a viral video condemning the ban on Eid prayers in several states in the country.
Sheikh Yabo had, in the widely circulated video, called on Muslim faithfuls to rebel and confront authorities in any state where Eid prayers, which marks the end of Ramadan, fast was banned to contain the spread of coronavirus.
The cleric also described the pandemic as a hoax and claimed that governors like Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, were not fighting COVID-19 but Islam.
It should be recalled that some state governors, particularly Northern states, had eased restriction on religious gathering which will give residents opportunity to celebrate the Eid-el-Fitr, despite the disapproval by the Sultan, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, amongst other top leaders of the religion.
Meridian Spy reports Kano, Yobe, Jigawa, Gombe, Borno, Zamfara and Bauchi have all opened their mosques for congregational worship.
However, despite steps by his peers in the north, Kaduna State governor, El-Rufai had on Friday insisted on keeping the doors of worship centres locked as a measure to contain the spread of the virus in his state.
He equally ordered security agencies in his state to arrest any violators while urging residents in the state to also adhere to the directives.
President Muhammadu Buhari also said he will be conducting his Eid-el-Fitr prayers with his family at home and will not welcome intending government officials, political leaders, community heads, Muslim and Christian leaders and children willing to pay homage at the villa.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, who made the announcement on Friday, said the decision was in observance of the lockdown measures and protocols on mass gathering put in place by the FCT and the PTF on COVID-19 “to save lives and protect people from all dangers”, as well as the the directive of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III suspending Eid congregational prayers across the country.
