Dutse — The National Hajj Commission has allocated 3,230 hajj seats to Jigawa for the 2012 hajj exercise. This was disclosed to newsmen by the Executive Secretary of the Jigawa State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Sani Alhassan Gumel at a news conference yesterday.

He said of this figure, more than 75 per cent have paid their deposits. "The number allocated to Jigawa for this year's hajj exercise by the National Hajj Commission is 3,230 seats. Out of these figure, 2,114 have paid their deposits, which we have remitted to NAHCON. Our arrangement for the 2012 hajj exercise has gone far. We have secured accommodation for our pilgrims in Mecca and Medina. We have ordered for a scanning machine that will screen female pilgrims in order to prevent pregnant women from travelling. The initial deposit is N450, 000. We have set up screening committees in the 27 local government areas of the state for effective coverage", he said.

Gumel added that based on the directives by the state government, first time pilgrims will be given preference by the board. He further said that his board has designed a new set of uniform for female pilgrims from the state.