Kaduna yet to reopen markets, places of worship, says El-rufai

Noah Ebije, Kaduna

Kaduna Governor, Nasir El-rufai, has said the state has not yet reopened markets and places of worship as being misconstrued by the general public.

Public spaces were closed in March when the government stepped up COVID-19 prevention efforts.

In a statement issued by Muyiwa Adekeye, El-Rufai said relevant government agencies will engage business, community and religious leaders to discuss and agree on the protocols for the safe opening of businesses and market and resumption of congregational worship.

“Government has started engagements with business leaders, and began receiving recommendations from some religious leaders on the subject of safe re-opening of places of worship. However, these consultations have not been concluded.

“Until these consultations result in a formal announcement authorising businesses, markets and places of worship to reopen, it will be a violation of subsisting Quarantine Orders to reopen any unauthorised facility, market or places of worship or to conduct congregational worship of any sort. Places of worship in Kaduna State were not closed by the Federal Government.

The decision to close places of worship in Kaduna State was taken and enforced in March 2020 by the state government as part of the proclamation of the Quarantine Orders in the state.

“Kaduna State is not one of the three states and the FCT where the Federal Government imposed a lockdown. The steps taken to ease such federally-imposed lockdowns in the concerned places should not be construed as the Federal Government relaxing in all states conditions that it did not impose in the first place.

“Kaduna State has its own well-articulated roadmap for reopening, and this was published last week as a public document for the views and inputs of the citizens of the State. That is why when it extended the Quarantine Orders by two weeks on 26th May 2020, it also announced steps to ease some of the restrictions. These included increasing lockdown-free days to three and allowing approved businesses and facilities to open on those three days.”

“The quarantine extension announced by the Deputy Governor Dr. Hadiza Balarabe on 26th May 2020 made clear that “schools, places of worship and markets will remain closed under the adjusted orders.