No fewer than 22,948 Nigerian pilgrims who performed this year’s hajj in Saudi Arabia are already back to Nigeria.
Information on the website of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), indicated that the homeward journey, which commenced on September 17, has three airlines that have so far airlifted the pilgrims in 51 flights. They are Flynas Air, Medview and Max Airline.
They have so far airlifted pilgrims from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kwara, Nasarawa, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kaduna, Kano, Benue, Plateau, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Kebbi, Zamfara and Lagos States.
It is expected that three separate flights of Max Air, FlyNas and Medview would convey other pilgrims who have already complied with their 32kg baggage stipulations tomorrow, Tuesday.
Meanwhile, NAHCON Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Mukhtar, has reiterated the determination of the commission to conclude the in-bound operation before the October 17 deadline set by the Saudi authority.
According to him, the available human and machine resources at the disposal of the commission are adequate enough to achieve the commission’s objective of meeting up with the deadline.
Commenting on the development, Alhaji Abdurrahman Balogun, the President of the Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria, described the feat by NAHCON within a week as unprecedented in the history of Hajj in Nigeria.
Balogun said with the pace at which pilgrims were being transported back to Nigeria, the commission would finalise the hajj operation before the set deadline by Saudi Arabia authorities.
In a related development, the Nigeria Charge d’Affairs to Saudi Arabia, Alhaji Muhammad Sani Umar, has called on state officials and pilgrims to adhere strictly to the official luggage policy stipulated by NAHCON.
Speaking during an inspection visits to Borno, Nasarawa and Katsina States pilgrims in Makkah, Umar said that any contravention of the standard rules set by the International Association of Travel Agency could attract sanctions.
He, therefore, urged the state officials to enforce the 32kg main luggage and 8kg rules for carry on to fast track the airlift operation. [myad]
