Seventeen people were on Tuesday, May 25, arrested in Kagogo Sector of Burera District where they were holding a prayer gathering contrary to the government directives on preventing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prayer gatherings are only allowed in places of worship that were permitted to resume services and observing the health guidelines against Coronavirus.
Police and local leaders found the group at about 1pm, congregating at the house of the one Odette Uruvugundi, 50, located in Rusisiro Village, Kayenzi Cell in Kagogo Sector.
Worshippers belong to the Pentecostal Church; and had come from Kagogo and Cyanika sectors.
Emmy Wilson Mwambutsa, the executive secretary for Cyanika Sector, who was among the enforcement team, warned the believers against such prohibited practices.
He told them that holding such gatherings exposes them and their families to the risk of catching and spreading the virus, which also affects national efforts against the deadly virus.
Mwambutsa also advised them to go to churches which were allowed to resume.
According to Superintendent of Police (SP) Aphrodis Nkundineza, the District Police Commander (DPC) for Burera, violators were arrested following a tip off by concerned residents.
“Area residents called the Police on Tuesday reporting the illegal gathering in the home of Uruvugundi, where all the 17 violators, majority women, were found crowded in the house praying. Besides holding a prohibited gathering, they had no mask and none of them washed hands before they gathered,” said the DPC.
He cautioned that gatherings held in homes are not permitted under Covid-19 directives.
“Players must be conducted in places of worship that were allowed to resume and everyone must strictly adhere to directives without exception so as to prevent catching Covid-19 or spreading it.”
He equally thanked members of the public, who facilitate the enforcement of directives through information sharing on those flouting the Covid-19 prevention directives.
The violators arrested were taken to Cyanika Sector where they were educated on health measures, tested for Covid-19 at their own costs and fined by administrative authorities. (End)