Nasarawa State Government, Tuesday, lifted the ban on religious gatherings in the state for two weeks as well as the lockdown order given by the state government three months ago.
The state commissioner for Information, Tourism and Culture, Comrade Dogo Shammah, announced this while briefing journalists on the update of the pandemic at the end of the security and stakeholders meeting in Government House Lafia.
The Commissioner who however gave conditions for the opening of workshops centre in the state mandated the religious leaders to ensure strict compliance to regulations to enable the re-opening of the worship centres to sustain its activities within the two weeks. Specifically, the workshops centres are to ensure social distancing, compulsory use of face masks and frequent washing of hands with sanitizers by all their members.
It would be recalled that Governor Abdullahi Sule had banned religious gathering since March 2, as parts of measures to contain the spread of novel coronavirus pandemic.
The Commissioner, however, explained that the ban was lifted for only two weeks for now with certain conditions that religious leaders would have to observe.
According to the commissioner, “after the expiration of the two weeks, the government would review the situation to see the level of compliance with the conditions to ensure that members abide with preventive measures. He disclosed that government would provide hand sanitizers and thermometer to religious leaders for use in churches and mosques adding also that government has lifted the ban on tricycles across the state.
On his parts, Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the state who spoke on behalf of religious leaders, expressed gratitude to the government for being considerate and promised to adhere to the government conditions. He, therefore, called on all religious leaders in the state to ensure that every member use face masks and they provide hand sanitisers and water in their respective worship centres.
