Connect with us

News

Lagos fixes June 19, 21 for mosques, churches to open

Published

on

Churches and mosques in Lagos State would be reopened to worshippers from the 19th of June, 2020, the state government said on Thursday.

According to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who revealed this at a press briefing he addressed at the Government House, Marina, mosques would be reopened on June 19, while churches would be reopened on June 21.

It would be recalled that the Federal Government, through the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 had said churches and mosques were free to reopen but gave what many considered as strict guidelines that must be followed by the worship centres before they can operate.

READ ALSO: Sanwo-Olu orders Lagos civil servants on level 13, 14 to resume work

The Lagos State Government on Tuesday also said religious worship centres in the state would remain closed to worshippers for now because of disagreements between it and religious leaders over modalities for their reopening.

Sanwo-Olu said: “There will now be restricted openings of religious houses based on compliance that we have seen and reviewed with the Safety Commission.

“From 14 days time, precisely on the 19th of June for our Muslim worshippers and from the 21st of June for our Christian worshippers. We will be allowing all of our religious bodies to open at a maximum of 40 percent of their capacity and we will be working with them as being expected by the Lagos State Safety Commission.

“But we know that these places of worship have different sizes but even if your 40 percent capacity is really so large, you cannot have beyond 500 worshippers at once, and keeping that maximum 40 percent capacity is really important.

“We will be encouraging people to have more than one service and ensure that they keep their premises clean, disinfect before another round of worship can take place.

“We will also be advising that there should only be mandatory Fridays and Sunday services. All other night vigils and services must be put on hold for now until we review our current situation.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now