By; BALA B. BITRUS, Minna
As Muslims across the country look forward to official pronouncements on the sighting of the crescent moon to end this year’s Ramadan fast, a palpable uncertainty hangs in the air as to the possibility of holding the usual congregational Eid el fitr prayers at the designated Eid el prayer grounds or Mosques no thanks to current lockdown.
Sensing the mood and concerns of the Muslim faithful in the state over their fates, Niger state government has said that it will rely on the position of Sultan of Sokoto and President General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Dr Sa’ad Abubakar III for guidelines on this year’s Eid-el-Fitr prayers.
The ongoing lockdown across the country have placed restrictions on Congregational Prayers as apprehension continue over further spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Secretary to Niger State Government, (SSG) Ahmed Ibrahim Matane who is also Chairman of the state’s Task Force on Covid-19, announced said while fielding questions from Journalists in Minna that the state will rely solely on the Sultan for direction as regards the congregational Eid el Fitr prayers which marks the end of the month long Ramadan fast annually.
He noted however that the state was working on resolving the issue within its ability but added that as President General of Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, “the Sultan was expected to come up with interpretations like he did on Tarawi and Tafsir” ahead of the commencement of this year’s Ramadan.
Matane further explained that the state government was trying to find a solution to the problem in-house. “We have been engaging Imams and the council of ulamas in state in our regular interface with them on the way forward in order to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus”.
The Eid-el-Fitr prayers means a large number of Muslim faithful gathering at a particular venue(s) from all walks of life as they converge at Eid prayer ground(s) in the usual dense setting without any social distancing and other precautionary measures on as brought about by COVID-19, protocols.
However, in the meantime, Matane told Journalists that the state government has not yet decided on either allowing the congregational prayers for this year’s Eid el Fitr to hold or otherwise.
He assured however that the state would make it’s stance known in the coming days to guide the Muslim faithful across the state.
Meanwhile, Chairman Task Force on COVID-19 also appealed to both Muslims and Christians to continue to be conscious of all precautionary measures and obey the social distancing rule, wear facemasks and wash their hands occasionally as part of the safety measures to halt the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic which has so far claimed a life in the state.
Matane said this against the backdrop of increasing number of cases of the Covid-19 virus in the state which was at the weekend put at 22 infected persons.
He said the state government will continue to be proactive in ensuring restriction of movements especially the closure of entry points into the state.
The SSG said stringent measures to properly secure the state and guard against carriers of the disease from other parts of the country from importing the disease into the state would be put in place.
