Some Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia have complained that since the day they arrived in the Holy Land, no accommodations have been provided for them.
In a video that SaharaReporters was able to view, the Muslim pilgrims who identified themselves as being from Kwara State claimed that they had been without lodging because the stakeholders were unable to make accommodations for them.
They didn’t provide us with a hotel or any other accommodations, complained one of the women in the video. We had been staying outside to sleep.
A family member of one of the victims told SaharaReporters that they had also complained about the situation to the State Welfare Pilgrims Board.
According to him, Awa Ibrahim, the Kwara State Amir Hajj, asserted that it was not the state board’s duty to provide such a provision.
The relative claimed, “The man told us that the National Hajj Commission is in charge of providing housing for the pilgrim.”
The National Hajj Commission, NAHCON, reportedly stated earlier this year that “Nigerian pilgrims for 2022 Hajj from Southern Nigeria are to pay N2,496,815.29, while their counterparts from Northern part of the country will pay N2,449,607.89.”
“For Adamawa and Borno states, they are to pay N2,408,197.89 due to proximity to Saudi Arabia. The air ticket cost is the major difference in the Hajj fare.”
The declaration was delivered by the NAHCON Chairman, Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan, during a special meeting with the heads of the Muslim Pilgrims’ Welfare Boards in the NAHCON Hajj House headquarters in June.
