Leadership (Abuja)
Ahmed Tukur
6 November 2009
Lafia — About 180 intending Muslim Pilgrims from Nasarawa State are now stranded at the NYSC Camp in Keffi venue of the transit camp for this year's hajj while three others have died.
The 180 pilgrims who are still at the Keffi NYSC camp includes officials of the Nasarawa State pilgrims' board and other government officials who are billed to travel for this year's Hajj through Max Air, official carriers of the state pilgrims.
When Leadership visited the Hajj camp, some pilgrims were seen grumbling while others were busy asking questions about their passports which are yet to be issued to them.
Already Max Air has closed its operation in Abuja and had ask the remaining pilgrims to proceed to Kaduna to board any of the available Max flights to Jeddah.
Among the three deceased pilgrims are Alhaji Musa Doma, a former police DPO in Garaku, Kokona Local Government Area who died at Federal Medical Center, Keffi after falling sick in camp before leaving for Abuja airport en route to Jeddah while one woman and a Fulani man died in Medina, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Available reports from Medina said that the Fulani Man slumped and died in a queue while waiting to change his traveler's Cheque in Riyad Bank and the one Hauwa died due to illness.
When contacted, the Publicity Secretary of the state Muslim Pilgrims Board, Alhaji Ibrahim Shigafarta who was among the stranded pilgrims confirmed the death of the former police officer and the stranded pilgrims.
Alh Shigafarta said the 180 pilgrims had already been issued with their passports waiting to be air lifted to Jeddah saying that they were stranded due to visa problems and are from their passports and the Saudi Embassy requested for additional passport photographs before issuing visas.
On the issue of moving to Kaduna to board available flight as requested by Max Air, he said that the board is still pleading with the management of the air carrier to branch Abuja from Kaduna to complete the air lift while denying knowledge of the two dead pilgrims in Medina.
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