About 790 pilgrims who performed this year’s hajj exercise from Kaduna State have returned home in two batches, after spending at least four weeks in Makkah and Madina, Saudi Arabia.
Daily Trust on Sunday reports that about 2,500 pilgrims from the state were airlifted by Azman Air in batches of six from the Kaduna International Airport.
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This is as 92 intending pilgrims from the state’s total allocation of 2,691 had been forced to stay back due to the non-availability of visas.
However, exactly one month after the first batch of pilgrims from the state were airlifted, 390 pilgrims left Jiddah International Airport in Saudi Arabia and touched down at the Kaduna airport at 5.45pm on July 21.
The second batch of pilgrims also safely landed in the early hours of Saturday at the Aminu Kano International Airport with 400 pilgrims from Giwa, Soba, Lere, and Kagarko LGA’s of Kaduna State.
Earlier, the Kaduna State Deputy Governor, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, had returned to Nigeria on July 19 when she joined a batch of tour operators who returned home through Azman Air.