The Jama’atu Izalatul Bid’ah Wa’kamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS) in Kankia Local Government, Katsina State, has announced the closure of its 40-year-old Friday Mosque in Layi Quarters following severe flooding.
Sheikh Khalil Kasim explained that Friday congregational prayers would now be held at Masjid Ibn Taymiyya in Gurara, which normally serves as a five-daily-prayer mosque.
“As a result of flood that submerged the mosque, prayers will no longer be observed in the place until further notice,” he said.
JIBWIS Chairman in the area, Alhaji Umaru Bature, said the decision was reached after consultations with the Chief Imam, Malam Tasiu Umar, and the Chairman of the Mosque Committee, Malam Alkhamis Rabiu.
He noted that the one-storey mosque, built around 1985, had been declared unsafe by experts after water penetrated its foundation.
“We have closed it because it can collapse at any moment, now or even after the rainy season. Water has already weakened the building’s foundation. Not only Juma’at prayer, even the five daily prayers should not be conducted there, as we have barricaded the entire area. We intend to demolish it for reconstruction,” Bature said.
He appealed for contributions from Muslim faithful and corporate bodies within and outside Nigeria to support the reconstruction, adding that a new design had already been prepared.
The recent flooding in Kankia also displaced hundreds of residents and destroyed properties estimated at billions of naira. It was reported to be the first such devastation in the town in four decades.
(NAN)