The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria has transported over 22,948 pilgrims within a week of the Post-Hajj movement to Nigeria.
Information on the Commission’s website has it that the homeward journey, which commenced on September 17, had three airlines transport pilgrims in 51 flight operations.
The air shuttles were by Flynas Air, Medview and Max Airline.
They have so far transported pilgrims from the Federal Capital Territory, Kwara, Nasarawa, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kaduna, Kano, Benue, Plateau, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Kebbi, Zamfara and Lagos States.
It is expected that three separate flights of Max Air, FlyNas and Medview would convey other pilgrims who had already complied with their 32kg baggage stipulations on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, NAHCON Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Mukhtar, has reiterated the determination of the commission to conclude the in-bound operation before the October 17 deadline set by the Saudi authority.
According to him, the available human and machine resources at the disposal of the commission is adequate enough to achieve the commission’s objective of meeting up with the deadline.
Commenting on the development, Alhaji Abdurrahman Balogun, the President of the Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria, described the feat by NAHCON within a week as unprecedented in the history of Hajj in Nigeria.
Balogun said with the pace at which pilgrims were being transported back to Nigeria, the commission would finalise the hajj operation before the set deadline by Saudi Arabia authorities.
In a related development, the Nigeria Charge d’Affairs to Saudi Arabia, Alhaji Muhammad Sani Umar, has called on state officials and pilgrims to adhere strictly to the official luggage policy stipulated by NAHCON.
Speaking during an inspection visits to Borno, Nasarawa and Katsina States pilgrims in Makkah, Umar said any contravention of the standard rules set by the International Association of Travel Agency could attract sanctions.
He, therefore, urged the state officials to enforce the 32kg main luggage and 8kg rules for carry on to fast track the airlift operation.
In another development, NAHCON, under the leadership of Mukhtar, organized a prayer session for the repose of the souls of Nigerian pilgrims that died during the 2015 Hajj Jamrah stampede.
Both Mukhtar and Dr Ibrahim Kana, the Chairman of the National Medical team, paid glowing tributes to the martyred pilgrims during the one year remembrance of the dead pilgrims.
It will be recalled that over 317 Nigerian pilgrims died in the stampede on September 24, 2015 on their way to Jamrah to stone the devil in the 2015 Hajj exercise.
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