The Kwara State Pilgrims Welfare Board has said more than 100 intending pilgrims from the state will miss this year’s Hajj exercise.
The agency’s executive secretary, Alhaji AbdulSalam Abdulkadir, disclosed this on Sunday during a sensitisation programme held for the intending pilgrims.
He said the affected persons were those who could not complete the additional N1.9 million added to the hajj fare.
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has increased the fare for the 2024 pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia by N1.9 million, saying those who had deposited N4.9 million will now pay N6.8 million in total.
NAHCON said the development was due to the forex crisis which Nigeria has been battling for months.
Abdulkadir said, “95 per cent of the intending pilgrims this year are first-timers. However, we have over 100 outstanding pilgrims who could not make the additional payment of N1.9 million.”
The state Ameerul Hajj, Senator Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe, while urging for patience, assured the pilgrims that they would be airlifted from the state this time around.
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