Ogun State Govt. To Reopen Worship Centres By August 14.

Ogun state Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has announced that the state government will reopen worship centres by Friday, August 14th, 2020.

The government has however urged citizens to abide by all Covid-19 precaution measures, and has warned that any worship centre that fails to follow all the guidelines would be sanctioned appropriately, saying even the holy books stipulates obedience to constituted authorities.

We urge our religious leaders to ensure that they abide by the measures mutually agreed upon and rolled out.

“As government, we will not hesitate to impose severe sanctions, including, but not limited to, lockdown on any Worship Centre that fails to comply with the laid down guidelines.

“It is important to note that all religions make provision for obedience to God and the authorities of the land.

“Wearing of face masks in the public is now compulsory. Therefore, I hereby invoke powers conferred on me by Regulation 7 of the Infectious Diseases (Emergency Prevention) Regulations No. 2 of 2020 (the Regulations), made pursuant to Section 33 of the Public Health Law of Ogun State (the Law), to mandate the compulsory wearing of face masks by all persons in public as part of measures to prevent the rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

“Failure to do so is punishable by up to six months imprisonment under Regulation 8 of the Regulations and Section 68 of the Law,” Governor Abiodun stated in an interview with newsmen on Wednesday.

Some of the measures put in place include mandatorily wearing of face masks, sitting two meters apart, provision of hand washing facilities and worship duration of not more than one and half hours.

The governor also declared that the weekend lockdown continues until August 14.

He also ordered that pupils and students in graduating classes should resume on August 4 in line with the federal government directive to prepare for their examinations on August 17.

He, however, stated that with the exception of students in the graduating classes, “all students in our schools would enjoy Automatic Promotion to the next class”.