The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria on Wednesday said it had transported 62,135 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the 2015 pilgrimage.
About 76,000 Nigerians are expected to join other Muslims from all parts of the world for the annual pilgrimage.
NAHCON would transport 66,000 pilgrims to the Holy Land while various travel agencies would transport 10,000 pilgrims.
Already, the Saudi Authority had fixed September 23 for Arafat and following this development, the Nigerian Government announced September 24, for Eid-el-Kabir.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria in a telephone interview, NAHCON Director of Public Affairs, Alhaji Uba Mana, said its remaining 3,000 intending pilgrims would be transported on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
He said the commission would conclude the airlift before the Sept. 17 deadline given by the Saudi authority and urged intending pilgrims awaiting their flights to be calm.
Mana said the airlift, which began on Aug. 23, was successful, adding that the commission had not recorded any hitch during the period.
NAN reports that most of the Nigerian pilgrims who were transported direct to Madinah have moved to Mecca after spending seven days praying at the Prophet’s Grand Mosque (Masjid-el-Nabwy) and visiting historic Islamic sites.
Meanwhile, 11 Nigerian Muslims have so far lost their lives in the Holy Land from Aug. 23, when the first flight was inaugurated in Kaduna, to date.
Five of the pilgrims died due to sickness, while six died in the Friday Kaaba Crane Crash in Mecca.
NAHCON chairman, Abdullahi Mukhtar, in an telephone interview, confirmed that four of the pilgrims who died in the crane crash were from Gombe State, while one each was from Kaduna and Katsina States.
Similarly, the Head of Madinah Operation of the commission, Dr Bello Tambuwal, also confirmed the death of five pilgrims, four in Madinah and one in Mecca due to various ailments.
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