Nigeria: Mallam Has Said There's No Corona

2 April 2020
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"Social distancing is a privilege. It means you live in a house large enough to practise it. Hand washing is a privilege too. It means you have access to running water. Hand sanitisers are a privilege. It means you have money to buy them. Lockdowns are a privilege. It means you can afford to be at home. Most of the ways to ward the Corona off are accessible only to the affluent. In essence, a disease that was spread by the rich as they flew around the globe will now kill millions of the poor"--Jayshre Shukal, India

The spiritual leader of Jamma'atu Izalatil Bid'a Waikamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS), Sheik Sani Yahaya Jingir is not new to confronting authorities. But he upped his game last Friday when he told the mammoth crowd that gathered at his mosque for Jumma'at prayers that the coronavirus pandemic is a hoax. Immediately he finished his sermon, members of the congregation, primarily comprised of young men, trooped out chanting in Hausa, "Mallam ya ce babu korona" (Mallam has said there's no corona). At least they were civil. Elsewhere in Kusada, Katsina State, angry youths prevented from observing prayers in compliance with the government directive, descended on a police station which they burnt down along with seven cars, two motorcycles and a generator.

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