Sallah: Muslims barred from holding prayers at National Eid Prayer Ground

By Stanley Onyekwere

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has barred Muslim fateful from observing this year’s Eid-el-Kabir prayers at the National Eid Prayer Ground, along the Airport Road, in Abuja, as part proactive measures against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Islamic worshippers were however enjoined to hold Eid prayers at the Juma’at mosques in the nation’s capital
This is coming on the heels of top gear preparations by Muslims in the Territory to join other Muslims all over the world to celebrate the upcoming Sallah this weekend.
The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, who announced the ban yesterday, at a meeting between the FCTA and a delegation from the FCT League of Imams Initiative, in Abuja,
Bello added that Eid prayers should last for a maximum of one hour only, between 8 am and 10 am, while all other Eid celebrations and activities should be confined to homes, as the extant guidelines on the closure of public parks, recreation, entertainment and sporting areas still subsists.
The Minister advised religious authorities in the territory to regulate the flow of people entering and exiting places of worship, even as all other health and safety protocols regarding places of worship as earlier issued by the FCTA remain in effect.
According to a statement signed by the chief press secretary to the FCT minister, Anthony Ogunleye, the meeting was attended by the chairman of the FCT League of Imams Initiative, Imam (Dr) Tajudeen M.B Adigun, deputy Chief Imam of the National Mosque, Dr Mohammed Kabir, secretary of the league, Malam Isiaq Zango, Imam Abdullahi Umar Adam of the JIBWIS Mosque and Imam (Dr) Yaqub Alhassan of Nigerian Police Force HQ Mosque, among others.