Skip to main content

Hajj 2016: NAHCON transports 20,000 pilgrims in a week

Murtala-Muhammed-International-Airport-Lagos

Murtala-Muhammed-International-Airport-Lagos

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) says no fewer than 20,000 pilgrims have been transported to Saudi Arabia for this year’s pilgrimage since the exercise started a week ago.

The Media Officer to the Commission, Alhaji Adamu Abdullahi, said in a statement in Abuja on Sunday that reports from the various departure centres across the country indicated that the exercise was going on smoothly.

He said the last batch of 454 intending pilgrims and officials in Ilorin Zone was expected to leave on Monday .

Abdullahi said there was strong indication that given the steady progress made so far and the with the number of aircraft made available for the operation by the airlines, the exercise might be completed before the closure of Saudi Arabia airspace on Sept 4.

He said the first batch of pilgrims from Zamfara, which left the country on Aug 8, was expected to leave the second holy city of Medina on Monday for Mecca after completing their stipulated eight day stay.

Transportation of about 80,000 Nigerians expected to perform this year’s hajj was flagged off on Aug 8 from the Sultan Abubakar III International Airport, Sokoto on Aug 8.

At the occassion the Chairman of NAHCON, Alhaji Abdullahi Mukhtar, had assured the nation that the commission has made adequate arrangement to ensure that the exercise is completed on schedule.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Court grants Fani-Kayode N50m bail

Fani-kayode sandwiched by EFCC officials Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court Abuja on Thursday granted a N50m bail to former spokesman of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. Fani-Kayode was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a five-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N26m. Fani-Kayode is the sole defendant in the fresh charges numbered, FHC/ABJ/CR/140/2016. The EFCC accused the defendant of diverting 26 million Naira allegedly received from the ONSA while Sambo Dasuki was in office. The anti-graft agency also accused him of handling the said N26 million without going through financial institution as required under the Money Laundering Act. The embattled former minister is already facing 17-count charge of money laundering before the Lagos Division of the court, along with a former Finance Minister; Nenadi Usman, Danjuma Yusuf and a firm; Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited. They were charg...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pope not involved in Colombian peace deal- Vatican

Pope Francis Pope Francis has turned down a request to play a role in the peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group. The Vatican in a statement issued on Wednesday in in Vatican City said that an invitation was sent to his Holiness in early August to appoint a representative to participate in the committee that selected the judges for the talks. The statement said that though Pope Francis supported the peace process, he, however, reiterated that he would not get involved in Colombian peace deal. It said that Pope was praying for the enlightenment of the hearts and minds of those who were called to promote the common good of the Colombian nation. A deal was announced last week, putting an end to five decades of internal conflict between government forces and the FARC rebels. The agreement, which needed to be ratified through a referendum in Oct. 2, would entail setting up a special court to grant amnesties or pu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Man docked for defiling 9-year-old girl

magistrate-court A 33-year-old man, Godwin Otobo, was on Monday docked at a Surulere Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.For allegedly defiling a nine-year-old girl, ‎Otobo, who lives at No. 10, Borrow Pit St., Sangotedo-Ajah area of Lagos, was said to have defiled the underage girl whose parents also reside in the same compound. The Prosecutor, Sgt. Anthonia Osayande, told the court that the accused committed the offence at about 9.00 p.m. sometimes in September. “The accused defiled the girl in the night when she was fetching water.‎ “The offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011,’’ Osayande told the court. The accused pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge of defilement. Ruling on a bail application filed by the accused, Chief Magistrate Ipaye Nwachukwu, granted him bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum. She said one of the sureties must be a property owner in Lagos State, while the other must be a civil servant on grade...
Post a Comment
Read more