The federal government has suspended durbar activities during the 2021 Eid-el-Kabir celebrations due to fears over the COVID-19 third wave.
Durbar activities take place in Northern cities with colourful parades of the emirs and their entourage on horses.
Naija News reports that this was made known in a statement signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation/Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, on Saturday.
The statement was titled, ‘COVID-19 third wave: PSC puts six states and FCT on red alert, recommends preventive measures for safe Eid celebration.’
The SGF also revealed that airport surveillance has also been heightened to forestall the spread of the Delta variant.
According to Mustapha, the suspension became necessary because the large number of participants/attendees would be difficult to control.
The PSC said the nation’s border posts, especially airports, will witness increased observance of existing quarantine protocols and restrictions.
The committee promised to minimise the risk of importation of variants into Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the federal government has placed the FCT, Lagos, Oyo, Rivers, Kaduna, Kano, and Plateau on a red list.
“Following the confirmation of the Delta variant of COVID-19 and the rising number of infections and hospitalisations in the country, the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 (PSC) has put six states and the Federal Capital Territory on red alert as part of the preventive measures against a third wave of the pandemic. The states are Lagos, Oyo, Rivers, Kaduna, Kano, Plateau, and the FCT,” the statement read.
This article was originally published on Nigeria News