A total of 52 female pilgrims were deported back to Nigeria by the Saudi Arabia authorities yesterday. Out of the 52, eight were part of the 461 pilgrims airlifted on Sunday to Saudi Arabia from Niger State, less than 24 hours after an inaugural airlift was flagged off in Minna airport.
Recall that the airlift from Minna airport, where Niger State pilgrims were billed to take off, was suspended by the National Hajj Commission, NAHCOM, until Sunday when the governor of Niger State, Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, flagged off the inaugural airlift.
Out of the 461 pilgrims that were airlifted from Minna airport, no fewer than 180 of them were female pilgrims out of which eight were returned for not having their mahram (male guardian).
The public relations officer (PRO) of the Niger State Pilgrims Welfare Commission, Alhaji Awal Sani, confirmed to LEADERSHIP that the eight pilgrims deported from Saudi Arabia arrived in Minna airport about 6:25am yesterday.
He said one of the eight deported had been cleared and would be airlifted with the other pilgrims billed to take off later in the evening yesterday.
Before the airlift, the Niger State Pilgrims Welfare Commission had disallowed 38 female pilgrims from taking part in the first flight, a measure the commission’s chairman, Engineer Mamman Muhammad, said was to avoid deportation of the pilgrims.
Governor Aliyu had, on Sunday at about 3pm, flagged off the airlift of pilgrims from the state and charged the pilgrims to shun all negative tendencies that could put the country in bad light.
He appealed to them not to allow the experience of the recent past to dampen their morale, but to use same as opportunity to be more steadfast in their prayers to the Almighty Allah, charging the pilgrims to pray fervently for Nigeria to surmount the security and other problems bedevilling it.
Also, another batch of 44 female pilgrims were yesterday deported back home. 19 out of the number are from Kaduna State, whole 25 are from Kebbi State including two men who refused to part with their deported wives.
The spokesperson for National Hajj Commission of Nigerian (NAHCON), Malam Uba Mana, confirmed the deportation according to a BBC (Hausa Service) report monitored in Abuja yesterday.
Meanwhile, Kabo Air has resumed airlift of pilgrims following the suspension of further operation after the denial of entry to over 1,000 Nigerian female pilgrims into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
A statement signed by the spokesman of Kabo Air, Alhaji Aminu Hamza, noted that the resumption of airlift to Saudi Arabia after the 48-hour temporary suspension of the exercise by the Nigerian authorities was due to addressing of the issue of individual guide (Muharram) to the female pilgrims.
The statement further explained that, immediately after the announcement of the decision to resume operations by the federal government on Saturday evening, Kabo was able to mobilize and, as early as 7:17am on Sunday, the airline took off to the holy land with 529 passengers.
“The 529 intending pilgrims are from Kogi State and another set from Kebbi State will also be airlifted later today [Monday],” the statement added. “The company assures all pilgrims that are to fly with Kabo of the enormous benefits of the trip as a result of its over 30 years experience in the airline industry.”
The statement said Kabo Airline had so far transported over 5,000 pilgrims to the holy land, assuring that the airline was ready to provide auxiliary services if the need arose.
Christian man intercepted boarding Hajj plane
The police in Sokoto have arrested one Loha Joseph, a Christian and an indigene of Plateau State, while attempting to board a plane to Saudi Arabia.
The spokesperson for the Sokoto State police command, Shuaibu Lawal Gambo, confirmed the incident, saying the police were able to make the arrest following a tip-off from the pilgrims who were travelling in that plane. He said that the suspect was not wearing the pilgrims’ uniform and did not come with them from Zamfara.
Shuaibu also added that Loha was caught without a passport or visa, but was carrying dollars amounting to about N140,000 which he claimed belonged to his sister who sent him on an errand.
Lawal also said that a search operation had been lodged in Loha’s house and that everyone involved would also be invited for questioning.
Loha told the VOA (Hausa Service) that he was travelling to London just like his role model Herbert Macaulay did even though he didn’t have a passport or money to travel.
When asked if he knew that the plane he was about to board was specifically for the Muslim pilgrims, he said no.
Meanwhile, the Zamfara state Commissioner for Environment, Alhaji Muktar Ahmed Lugga, has said that Joseph, a non-muslim, was caught while attempting to board Saudi Arabia bound Hajj aircraft.
Confirming the incidence to LEADERSHIP, Lugga who is one of the key officials handling Zamfara Hajj airlift exercise, explained that the incident occurred at the Sultan Abubakar Airport in Sokoto, where Zamfara state Hajj contingents were boarding plane slated for Saudi Arabia.
Said he: “Joseph was identified during a screening exercise and was discovered to have boarded the plane without clearance or any relevant travelling documents, and he was not even part of the state Hajj contingents.”
Lugga further explained that at the time he was arrested, Joseph was found in possession of some foreign currencies, and he was immediately handed over to the Sokoto state commissioner of Police.
“Even if the young man was a Muslim, we would still arrest him and hand him over to authorities for attempting to board a plane without documents,” he said.
The commissioner further revealed that, a few minutes after Joseph was arrested, his cellphone received a text message, with warning that should he be stopped by anybody on his way, he must not be made to part with the money in his possession.
“We simply handed him over to the police. It is the business of the authorities to establish the religious faith he belongs to, and whether he was a sane person or not.
But what remains amazing was how Joseph got to know that there was a Saudi Arabia bound aircraft” asked Lugga.
SOURCE: 2 Octo
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