The Gombe State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board has said its 1,447 pilgrims will commence their return journey to Nigeria on Thursday with the first batch of 560 pilgrims.
The Executive Secretary of the board, Alhaji Sa’adu Hassan, disclosed this in Makkah on Wednesday ahead of the evacuation of the pilgrims to Jeddah to board Max Airline back to Gombe Airport.
He said the airlift back home is based on ‘first-in, first-out’ as planned by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
The executive secretary advised the pilgrims against carrying excess luggage exceeding the approved 8kg for handbag and 32kg bags to avoid mishandling of their luggages at the airport.
According to him, each pilgrim will get Zam-Zam water on their arrival in Nigeria, which will be airlifted free of charge by the airlines.
Hassan added that the board was able to brought all the pilgrims that registered with them to the Holy Land and have performed the Hajj rites successfully, including a female pilgrim that died shortly after performing the Hajj exercise.
He, therefore, called on the NAHCON to engage more airlines for Hajj operations to ease transportation of the pilgrims to and from Saudi Arabia, thereby reducing the number of days spent by pilgrims after Hajj.
Our correspondent reports that the second flight with 559 pilgrims are expected to also return to Nigeria on Sunday aboard the Max Airline.
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