The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has advised Nigerian pilgrims to be security conscious in the Holy Land.
NAHCON’s Head of Civic Orientation, Alhaji Umar Bala, gave the advice while fielding questions from journalists shortly after addressing pilgrims from Kwara, Osun, Kano, and Katsina States in Madinah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Bala, who said the goal of the commission was to ensure that every pilgrim achieves an acceptable Hajj, urged the pilgrims to always seek assistance from the officials to avoid falling victims of dubious people.
He hailed the pilgrims for exemplary conduct so far displayed in the Holy Land, adding that the orientation was necessary to stress the need to protect various facilities in the hotels.
He said, “As part of sensitisation programme for pilgrims in Madinah, we are here in Markassiya to remind our pilgrims on the need to be security conscious.
“We also talk about their comfort. We remind them to make sure that people they will deal with are State officials.
“The goal of this sensitisation is to ensure that every pilgrim achieves acceptable Hajj. And that is the reason why we are always together with the pilgrims in collaboration with their State officials to make sure that they conduct themselves in line with Islamic injunctions.
“They can perform their Hajj as contained in the Qur’an. We need to give them this civic orientation so that facilities provided in the hotels will be well utilised.
“The sensitisation done in Nigeria has really yielded positive reward as pilgrims are conducting themselves according to Islamic laws.
“I advise them to always deal with their officials to get confirmation and clarification on all issues for them to perform their religious rites and avoid falling victims of dubious people.”
From 25 flights, 12,131 Nigerian pilgrims had arrived the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The pilgrims are from Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Kebbi, Kwara, Kogi, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Lagos States.
Meanwhile, another batch of Kano pilgrims left Madinah for Makkah today to observe ‘Umrah.
Pilgrims from Kano, Katsina, and Lagos departed for Makkah on Thursday.
