Dear Uncle J. D,
I chose to write you after concluding this may be the most viable option to get attention to this disturbing situation.
That places of worship, especially churches, have been closed since the first week of April is no longer news.
Sometime at peak of the lockdown in April 2020, I noticed that a mosque along Lekki – Epe Express Way, specifically opposite Mayfair Gardens, Awoyaya, Ibeju-Lekki have been open to worshippers. My initial intention is to get this on video and make public, but then I thought about the risk that may be involved in such an escapade.
Worshippers troop into this mosque every Friday for the Jumat prayers, in tens of hundreds, without the use of face mask or observance of any form of social distancing.
Investigations reveal that ninety percent (90%) of these worshippers are not Nigerians but are from neighbouring Niger. They are the ‘Malams’ doing petty trade like sales of suya, pepper and so on within the Awoyaya/Eputu communities of Ibeju-Lekki.
My question is: do we have different laws for different religious groups in Lagos state? I believe what is good for the goose, should be good for the gander!
If there is an existing (though ridiculous) law in Lagos whereby people are arrested (even in private cars) and made to pay a fine of twenty thousand naira for not using face masks, it leaves one wondering why such a massive crowd of worshippers are invincible within the metropolis. We should consider the health risk that this gathering constitute at a time like this when the communal transmission of the Covid 19 virus is at its peak.
If some of the conspiracy theories of states in the Western part of Nigeria being encircled by foreigners waiting to unleash mayhem at a set time is anything to go by, then this is a ticking bomb waiting to explode.
I call on all concerned, from communal leaders, to law enforcement agencies as well as the Lagos State government to rise up to tackle this anomaly.
The war against covid 19 must be won!
Lagos State must remain safe for indigenes to live in.
Thank you
Aderemi Enisan
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