The Friday congregational prayers were held in Kano for the first time since the State Government imposed a total lockdown on April 16, to check the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Worshippers defied social distancing rules in almost every mosque even though the State Government had provided free face masks and hand sanitizers as part of measures to prevent the spread of the virus.

It was the first Friday prayers to hold in the holy month of Ramadan which has almost come to an end. Chief Imam of Alfurqan Mosque, Bashir Umar, who led the prayers, said it was an opportunity to pray for an end to the pandemic.

Some of the worshippers who spoke to ait.live shortly after the prayers expressed their happiness to have observed the prayer in the month of Ramadan.

Chairman of the State Council of Islamic Scholars, Sheikh Ibrahim Khalil, had opposed the lifting of the ban to allow congregational and Eid prayers insisting that the danger of the spread of Covid-19 is real.