Daily Trust (Abuja)

Nigeria: Airlift of Borno, Yobe Pilgrims Begins Saturday

Mustapha Isah Kwaru

7 November 2008


Maiduguri — The inaugural airlift of intending pilgrims for this year's hajj from Borno and Yobe States which was earlier scheduled to commence yesterday is to begin tomorrow due to technical problems, the head of operations of Maiduguri zonal office of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, (NAHCON ) said yesterday.

Speaking in an interview with our correspondent in Maiduguri, Aliyu Yusuf disclosed that although proper arrangements for the inaugural airlift had been completed, the national headquarters of NAHCON announced the suspension as the airlines contracted for the operation were expected to arrive Nigeria yesterday to under go technical screening.

The airlines, Yusuf said, are Air Niamey and IRS Airline which are jointly expected convey 3,080 pilgrims and officials from Borno and Yobe States from the Maiduguri International Airport.

He assured that the change of date would not affect the smooth airlift of pilgrims as modalities had been worked out for the two states to rotate the flight to facilitate speedy completion of the airlift.

Be the first to Write a Comment!

Copyright © 2008 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.



Sign up for FREE daily 'top headlines' by email »


SELECT
SELECT

Most Active Stories: Nigeria

Photos of President Obama in Ghana