Flood has forced the closure of a 40-year-old Friday Mosque in the Layi Quarters of Kankia, Katsina State, after its foundation was severely damaged.
The Jama’atu Izalatul Bid’ah Wa’kamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS) in Kankia announced that the mosque, which has served worshippers since the mid-1980s, became unsafe when the flood penetrated beneath its structure.
Sheikh Khalil Kasim confirmed that Friday prayers would now hold at Masjid Ibn Taymiyya in Gurara, a mosque normally used for daily congregational prayers.
JIBWIS Chairman, Alhaji Umaru Bature, explained that structural engineers had inspected the building and advised that it should no longer be used, warning that the structure could collapse at any time. He said both Friday and daily prayers have been suspended, and the mosque premises have been barricaded.
According to him, the leadership of JIBWIS has already prepared a new design for the mosque, with plans to demolish and rebuild it. He appealed to members of the Muslim community and corporate organisations, both within and outside the country, to support the reconstruction project.
Bature further noted that the flood was one of the worst disasters Kankia had witnessed in decades, displacing many residents and destroying property worth billions of naira.
