Kaduna State Government on Saturday said it arrested two Islamic clerics for conducting Friday congregational prayers in two communities of Kaduna North local government area.
The state government also said the clerics by their actions violated the curfew imposed on the state to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan who disclosed this at a press conference on Saturday, named the culprits as Aminu Umar Usman from Malali area and Malam Umar Shangel, from Unguwan Kanawa.
Aruwan while warning that security agencies will enforce government orders and uphold the 24-hour curfew, until further notice stressed that those who seek to defy the directives stand the risk of arrest and prosecution.
As such, he said the two clerics found to be in violation of government orders will be prosecuted accordingly.
‘’It should be clear that the inconveniences associated with the preventive measures, while regretted, are nothing compared to the suffering and deaths that coronavirus will cause if it is allowed to get here and spread,’’ he argued.
He said the Kaduna State Government commends citizens that continue to abide by the terms of the quarantine imposed on the state as a preventive measure against Covid-19.
”The state government is especially grateful to religious and community leaders who have joined in appealing to the public to abide by public health warnings, ” he added.
Daily Trust reports that Governor Nasir El-Rufai had also tweeted that two clerics had been arrested for conducting congregational prayers in violation of the Kaduna State public health preventive measures and stressed that the clerics will be prosecuted.
