Tashikalmah Hallah, Hassan Karofi, Aisha Umar and Shakirat Abdulmajeed in Lagos
17 December 2007
Abuja — Hundreds of intending Nigerian pilgrims from several states who were to be airlifted by some tour operators, better known as "international pilgrims", were left stranded as this year's airlift to the hajj in Saudi Arabia formally ended at the weekend.
However, the National Hajj Commission [NHC] succeeded in air lifting all 80,000 pilgrims who registered with it to perform this year's hajj.
The stranded pilgrims, who mounted a protest at Kano's Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, were said to be from Lagos, Kwara and Oyo States. They were billed to travel to Saudi Arabia in a chartered BIAO plane, which failed to depart in time. Some of the pilgrims who spoke to reporters said they actually boarded a plane and sat in it for four hours, before they were told that the King Abdulazeez Airport at Jeddah had been closed. Some of them complained that they had no money to go back to their respective states. They said they were told that they would only be repaid when officials of the tour operators return from the hajj.
However, Senior Special Assistant to President Yar'adua on aviation matters Captain Shehu Usman Iyal, who spoke in Lagos yesterday, said Nigeria met the deadline given by the Saudi Arabian authorities for the airlifting of pilgrims as against some other African countries such as Niger, Benin Republic and Ghana, which could not meet the deadline.
Iyal said despite the incident at Ilorin Airport where one of the aircraft lost a tyre, which led to delay in the airlift of pilgrims from the region, about 190 rotations were still recorded in the exercise. He warned the designated carriers not to default on the return leg of the air lift, just as he explained that adequate sanctions have been worked out for such airlines, which will be barred from participating in future exercises.
Also, the vice chairman of the Hajj Commission's aviation committee said arrangements for the return of the pilgrims from the holy land has been sealed. He said the return airlift will begin on Tuesday next week, a week after Arafat.
Iyal, while praising President Yar'Adua for the support given to the hajj committee in facilitating the smooth air lifting of pilgrims, commended aviation agencies such as Skypower Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), and air traffic controllers for the timely clearance for take off and landing rights.
He said, "with the successful air lifting of pilgrims this year, we have proven to all Nigerians that the national hajj commission could do something successful."
Yesterday, in a move aimed at ensuring a hitch-free Arafat day, Saudi authorities said 50,000 security operatives have been deployed to Mina, to control crowd during the hajj exercise.
Over three million pilgrims from across one hundred countries converge on Minah today for the commencement of the 2007 hajj. Arafat, the crucial day for all pilgrims, comes up tomorrow. Pilgrims will stay throughout the day in Minah and leave for Arafat tomorrow, where they will spend about twelve hours observing the day, which is a compulsory part of the hajj rites. At sunset, pilgrims are to leave for Muzdalifah where they will spend the night and later embark on a journey to Jamrat and then to Meccah to perform Dawafil Ifadah and Sa'ayi.
Statistics released by Saudi authorities show that two million of the pilgrims are foreign nationals, about one million are local residents and four hundred are illegal immigrants. Daily Trust reports that, Minah is the largest vellodrome city in the world and pilgrims are expected to remain there for the next three days.
The Saudi director of public security and chairman of the hajj security committee, Lt. Gen. Saeed Ibn Abdullah Al- Qahtani said at a news conference in Mecca that fifty thousand security agents have been deployed to ensure safety of pilgrims during the compulsory three day stay in Minah.
Qahtani however said that pickpockets are always having a field day during the period, and that security has been beefed up in order to checkmate the activities of those he described as hoodlums during the day of the Arafat.
"As you know, pickpockets who come here are experts and often they commit crimes without being caught", the Saudi security chief added.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
