While the ban on Eid prayers is still in force, churches and mosques have been asked to reopen and also to observe strict guidelines on maintaining physical distancing during service.

Umar Kadafur, Borno state’s deputy governor and chairman of the state COVID-19 response committee who made the announcement, said the government would revert to “status quo” if the COVID-19 situation escalates

The statement read “Henceforth, Jumma’at prayers and five daily prayers shall be observed in all mosques as recommended by the Borno State Council of Ulamas in strict adherence with social distancing and the use of face masks. All churches shall conduct church services as recommended by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Borno Chapter in strict adherence with social distancing and use of face masks. Government has considered the recommendation of the Borno State Council of Ulamas which clearly states that Eid prayers is Sunnah (non obligatory), hence there should be no Eid prayers. Faithfuls should remain at home during the period.”

It was reported that one Babangida Buba, a retired nurse passed on after displaying symptoms of COVID-19. The deceased who joined a humanitarian organisation after retirement, died at the hospital on Friday Aprl 17.

Borno State’s Deputy Governor Umar Kadafur who commented on the incident at a press briefing, said the cause of death has not been officially confirmed.

The Deputy Governor said “The blood sample (of the deceased) has been taken and the result has been communicated to the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) who are mandated to make a statement on that. But as a committee, we are working and reviewing things in the town so for now, I assure you that if there is anything from the outcome of the NCDC, we will make it public. I have to caution our press when it comes to COVID-19. You are supposed to run a test and there is a lot of processes involved. So if you are not a member of that team, you cannot preempt a result without official confirmation.  What we are saying now is that we have a patient who had passed away and that the patient is tested but the result is sent to NCDC that they can send us an official confirmation. The committee has evaluated a lot of things, we have started putting our house together in the events of any outbreak.”