The Ogun State Government on Friday reopened religious centres for services and canceled the weekend lockdown in the State.
The Governor of the State, Dapo Abiodun, announced this in a statement in Abeokuta, the state capital, on Friday.
Abiodun said it is of great importance that all stakeholders fully comply with the agreed guidelines so that the curve of the pandemic could be further flattened.
As part of the guidelines, he said there must be more than 200 worshippers in a service, which must not exceed 90 minutes.
Abiodun said: “After thorough deliberation, consideration and resolution, we decided to reopen the worship centres with effect from Friday 14th August, 2020 as indicated in my last address.
“The protocols for the reopening of the worship centres were jointly designed by religious leaders and the Government and we expect that they will be scrupulously adhered to. Our religious leaders who still have doubts about some of the conditions should feel free to approach the Task Force for clarifications and support.”
Abiodun enjoined religious leaders to ensure that all guidelines, some of which include wearing of face masks, provision of running water, decontamination of worship centres before and after every service, provision of Veronica buckets for hand washing, provision of alcohol based hand sanitisers as well as the discouragement of the use of air conditioners during worship service, are strictly adhered to.
“However, if per chance we discover that any of our religious centres is not complying or adhering to the laid down protocols, we will be left with no alternative than to sanction such centres,” the governor further said.
Abiodun also said the restrictions of movement on weekends have been lifted, adding that the number of people at every social gathering has been expanded to a maximum of 50 persons.
On education, he disclosed that Junior Secondary School classes registered for the NECO Basic Education Certificate Examination are to return to school from August 17, 2020, while entrance examinations into the Ogun State Boarding Schools will take place on September 12, 2020.
He said: “Following the release of the timetable for examinations by the National Examination Council (NECO), JSS3 students who have registered for the NECO Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) are to return to school from Monday 17th August 2020, the BECE exam organized by the Ogun State Government will hold at a date to be announced later.”