President Muhammadu Buhari has wished all Muslims a happy and safe Eid as the country joins other Muslims across the world to mark the 2020 Eid El-Kabir celebrations.
In a statement on Friday, the President announced that he observed the Eid El-Kabir prayers at home with his family, in keeping with the advisories from the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.
He also urged all Muslims to put into practice the noble teachings of the Islamic religion and put the fear of God in their daily activities in order to make our society better.
Speaking further, the President acknowledged that the preventive guidelines that have been introduced to contain the spread of the Coronavirus have unfortunately limited people’s freedom to gather & worship in large numbers in Mosques and Churches.
He, however, called on Nigerians to continue to exercise patience and understanding until the nation and the world overcomes the pandemic.
This is the second Eid prayer that the President would be marking at home with his family since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted life, infecting millions across the world and thousands in Nigeria.
Just over two months ago, the President had observed the prayers for Eid El-Fitr at home in line with advice from the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
In an earlier statement, he also noted that as part of efforts to stop the spread of the pandemic and flatten the curve, he would not be receiving visitors on Sallah homages.
Nigeria currently has 42,689 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to the nation’s top disease control agency – the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
19,270 of those infected have recovered while 878 of them have died.