2019 Hajj: Deal with officials alone, NAHCON advises pilgrims

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has advised pilgrims to avoid dealing with people who are not officials to avoid falling victims of gold tooth fixing syndicate.

NAHCON’S Head of Civic Orientation, Umar Bala, while fielding questions from journalists on Tuesday in Madinah, said the officials of the commission had been visiting pilgrims in their hotels to advise them on how to keep their money and valuables.

Bala, who said all officials of the commission serving in various committees had been directed to be part of enlightenment campaigns for the pilgrims, added that the primary role of NAHCON was to work towards realising an acceptable Hajj.

When asked about his advice to pilgrims on how to take care of their money and other belongings, he said, “if you recall, we have been visiting pilgrims in order to sensitise them on how to go about with their money and those going about telling them that they will assist them in fixing gold teeth and others.”

“We have conducted a series of enlightenment campaigns right from Nigeria. We have conducted “train-the-trainer” workshop to enlighten them on how to go about training their individual pilgrim so that they should avoid those kind of people”.

“Our advice to pilgrims is that they should not deal with anybody unless they are officials”, he said.