Muslims in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, will be able to worship in their various mosques from Friday, June 19, while Christians will be able to worship in their churches from Sunday, June 21, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced on Thursday.
The state governor, who made this known on Thursday while giving an update on developments relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, said though given the go-ahead to reopen, the religious centres must limit congregational gatherings to 40 percent of their total capacities and observe all protocols and guidelines that make for safety of worshipers and check further transmission of the disease.
Such protocols, he said, include mandatory wearing of facemasks by all persons going into the churches and mosques, provision for handwashing under running water, sanitisers, and observance of reasonable distance by the worshipers.
The religious centres are also expected to limit their gatherings only to regular Sunday services (churches) and Friday Jumat prayers (mosques) as all other services, including night vigils, are prohibited for the time being.
There will be no communion or sharing of food of any kind in the churches, no sharing of kettle in the mosques, he said.
Sanwo-Olu said aged persons 65 years and above, as well as young people 15 years and below, are to steer clear from all religious gatherings until otherwise further directed. This, he said, is necessary as statistics of fatalities showed that persons within these brackets are more susceptible to the pandemic.
Compliance with these measures, the governor warned, would be strictly monitored by officials of the Lagos State Safety Commission, who would be paying surprise visits to the religious houses.
He said the government reserves the right to further restrict or cancel religious gatherings in the state, depending on new developments regarding the disease or the level of compliance of the worship centres with guidelines and protocols given above.
Sanwo-Olu also gave the nod for civil servants on grade levels 13 and 14 to resume work from Monday, June 22, while grade 1 to 12 should continue to stay home until further notice.
He disclosed that seven additional testing centres (laboratories) would be made ready within the next few days to further assist in ramping up testing for suspected cases of the coronavirus.
The government, Sanwo-Olu said, is on the verge of getting the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to accredit the seven new centres, which will bring the total test centres in Lagos to 11 from the existing four.
Sanwo-Olu, who also hinted of the full reopening of event centres and hotels across the state in two weeks’ time, called on the operators of such places to use this period to prepare their facilities in line with the guidelines earlier issued by the Lagos Safety Commission and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA).
The Lagos State Safety Commission has earlier announced that it has begun registration of religious and social centres in the state in preparation for full reopening.
This, the commission said, was in furtherance of the Register-to-Open
“Further to the directive of Mr Governor with respect to the Register-to-Open initiative of Lagos State government, we hereby confirm that all religious and social centers (social clubs, event centres, restaurants, bars, night clubs, spas, cinemas and gyms) within the state can commence the registration process on the designated portal www.lasgsafetyreg.com
The governor had on May 17 said the government was considering full reopening of the economy, including critical sectors like tourism and hospitality, sporting, event centres, cinemas, entertainment, and religious gatherings, adding that businesses in these sectors would have to undergo re-registration before reopening and that the Lagos State Safety Commission and Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) would be visiting offices and business premises to assess the level of their readiness to resume operations.
On schools, Sanwo-Olu said on Thursday that ongoing learning via various online platforms would continue across the seven state-owned tertiary institutions while secondary and primary schools, both public and private, remain shut while government consults with all relevant stakeholders in the education sector.
“We are engaging with the Ministry of Education and the Safety Commission. We will also be meeting with all stakeholders, and there are several of them in the education sector. We will be making a pronouncement in two weeks’ time after engaging with the stakeholders,” said Sanwo-Olu.
