Leadership (Abuja)
Mansur Sani Malam
16 November 2009
Kano — All intending pilgrims for this year's Hajj from Kano Zone were successfully airlifted by early last week.
A reliable source revealed that only those on the ground are the officials of the state Pilgrims Board, and that of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) are expected to be airlifted tomorrow (Tuesday).
A part from the state's pilgrims, there are international pilgrims whose airlift is the responsibility travel agencies; and of that category of the pilgrims, some are still on queues in various agencies waiting for their airlift.
Investigations revealed that despite the fact that the airlifting of the International pilgrims is going smoothly, some of the airlines are facing visa problems.
Speaking to Leadership, Alhaji Kabiru Yahaya , an employee of Dan-Bare Travels Agency Limited, said although they have successfully airlifted their pilgrims, they still faced huge problems concerning getting visa, especially for the under aged.
He said already their travel agency had successfully airlifted 100 pilgrims, assuring that the last batch would go on Sundy night.
Alhaji Kabiru Yahaya urged the Saudi government to review the age limit for the pilgrims and lesser hajj with a view to allowing every Muslims to perform his religious obligations.
It would be recalled that this year's Hajj exercise did not receive many hitches in terms of pilgrim's airlift as all the airlines completed their tasks earlier two weeks to the closure of King Abdulaziz International Airport Jeddah, and a week to the November 17 deadline given by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to all carriers to complete the airlift.
The airlift from the southern zone was also concluded at the weekend by Med-View.
Med-View said in a statement at the weekend in Lagos that the operation was concluded successfully at the three departure points/airports allocated to the airline by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
Speaking in Lagos at the end of the operation, the airline's Managing Director, Alhaji Muneer Bankole, thanked the pilgrims for their orderly conduct and cooperation which, he said, contributed largely to the success of the airlift.
He equally commended NAHCON and the respective state pilgrims' welfare boards for organizing a hitch-free exercise, and promised that the airline would make the return journey beginning December 1 also hitch-free.
In Gombe, however, about 103 intending pilgrims have protested at the gate of Government House, Gombe against the authorities for failing to airlift them to the holy land.
But addressing the intending pilgrims, the Executive Secretary, Gombe State Muslim Pilgrims' Welfare Board, Alh. Umar Abdulsalam Ciroma, said the problem was due to their high number higher than the 2,500 slots given to the state by NAHCON.
He pointed out that for most of the intending pilgrims that registered with the board initially, especially those that paid within the past seven months, a lot of problems were discovered in their registration process which was why they were left behind.
Ciroma said, so far, he has got the visa of five pilgrims out of the 95 awaiting intending pilgrims, and also promised to make sure that all the intending pilgrims in Gombe are airlifted by the last flight that would leave to Saudi Arabia.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Leadership. 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.
