This advise follows the recent attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State by gunmen on Sunday, 5th 2022.

This was contained in a statement signed by the command’s spokesman, Ajayi Okasanmi, on Monday in Kwara.

The state Commissioner of Police, Tuesday Assayomo, urged religious leaders to put in place Closed Circuit Television cameras in places of worship and employ private or local guards to complement those provided by the police.

The police command said it held a security meeting to review its strategy last Friday.

“The command was not unaware of some security breaches in some states leading to the death of many citizens, the banning of Okada operations in some states, especially Lagos State which has sent jitters in the spines of some inhabitants in Kwara State, owing to the proximity of Kwara State to Lagos State; nursing the fears that the banned Okada operators may head for Kwara State with all its attendants’ risks.

“The CP advises the leadership of religious bodies on the appropriateness of putting some security arrangements in their places of worship, including CCTV cameras, employment of private or local guards to complement those provided by the Police.”

According to the statement, the police also stressed the need to conduct census among motorcycle and tricycle riders in the state.

“The commissioner called on the leadership of motorcycle and tricycles unions in the state to embark on adequate profiling of both existing and new members for easy identification and monitoring, in order to check the influx of the banned Okada riders from other states, especially Lagos,” the statement read in part.

Assayomo directed Divisional Police Officers and Heads of various police formations in the state to intensify patrols, intelligence gathering and apply effective mobilisation of vigilante groups, hunters and other local security apparatuses in their areas of operations.

Sanwo-Olu disclosed this during a briefing on COVID-19 at the State House in Marina.

The governor said mosques will be reopened next week Friday, while churches will follow suit on Sunday, August 9.

Sanwo-Olu, however, said part of the regulations is that religious leaders must make available hand sanitisers, thermometer guns, adding that the state government will ensure that social distancing is maintained.

“Places of worship in Lagos will now be opened from Friday, August 7 for our Muslim worshippers and on Sunday, August 9 for our Christian worshippers.

“We will only be allowing 50 per cent of their capacity at either the church or the mosque. Churches that have Saturday worship day will also be allowed to start holding their Saturday worship.

“We must reiterate that places of worship are only permitted to have their regular once a week service on designated days.

For the avoidance of doubt, there will be Friday worship for our Muslim followers and Sunday worship for our Christian followers,” he said.

The governor vowed that the state government will closely monitor and observe the compliance level of religious bodies before taking the next steps.

In the same vein, the Governor also increased public gatherings capacity from 20 to 50 people.

Sanwo-Olu, however, said Night clubs in the state remain shut, adding that restaurants can now operate eat-in services from Friday, August 14.

Sanwo-Olu also confirmed that students in exit classes across the state will also resume on Monday, August 3.

This is as a state government delegation visited churches and mosques in Egba Ijebu and Remo areas of the State to ascertain their level of preparedness.

Recall in March, the Federal government declared a total lockdown of the country including churches and mosques so as to curb spread of coronavirus pandemic.

The Federal Government has since lifted the restriction on worship centres across the nation after the relaxation of lockdown.

But, Gov Dapo Abiodun, said worship centres in Ogun should remain closed due to the rise in cases of COVID-19 in the State.

However, responding to calls by residents for the reopening of religious centres, the government said it met with religious leaders to observe their level of compliance with COVID-19 guidelines.

On Wednesday, a delegation, which comprised the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker; the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Tunde Odunlami, as well as the Environment Commissioner, Abiodun Abudu-Balogun, met with religious leaders.

The government representatives also inspected the preventive measures put in place by respective faith-based organisations.

Worship centers visited included the Redemption Camp; Ijebu-Ode Central Mosque; St Sebastine’s Catholic Church, Ijebu-Ode; Sagamu Central Mosque; Ibara Baptist Church; Headquarters of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries; Cathedral Church of St. Peter, Ake; Ansar-u-deen Central Mosque, Adedotun, among others.

Curfew period in the state now falls between 10 pm and 4 am, as recommended by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Channels Tv reports.

Meanwhile, Governor Dapo Abiodun in a briefing on Friday said all other restrictions, guidelines, and measures taken to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the state will remain in place.

The Governor also said engagement with religious leaders was still ongoing over how public religious activities can resume in the state.

Abiodun said his government will unveil guidelines on Friday to enable religious activities to restart on June 19.

“I indicated in my briefing last week that our Administration would engage religious leaders towards working out modalities on gradually lifting restrictions on religious activities,” Abiodun said.

“This was in accordance with the minimum recommendations of the COVID-19 PTF, subject to peculiarities of affected states. We therefore met with leading religious bodies, as we have always been inclusive, and we arrived at the following conclusions:

“(A) Subject to the review of the Sub-Committee (which includes some of the religious leaders earlier engaged) we set up, I will be unveiling on Friday, 12th June, 2020 some guidelines to enable the gradual opening of religious activities on Friday, 19th June.

“(B) A Joint Task Force (including religious leaders, government & security agencies) will be set up to monitor compliance with agreed guidelines, which would be regularly reviewed according to developments.

“(C) The afore-disclosed are despite the remarkable efforts of our Administration, as acknowledged by the religious leaders, who clearly understood the reality of the pandemic which is still very much with us.”