Saudi tragedy: MURIC sad over death of Nigerians

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has expressed sadness over the death of Nigerians in last Thursday’s stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia.
They also commiserated with the family of the deceased including Professor Tijjani El-Miskin and Hajia Bilkisu Yusuf.
Director, MURIC, Professor Isiaq Akintola made the remark in a statement yesterday.
“We are devastated and we are in a mourning mood with the bereaved families. In particular, we commiserate with President Muhammadu Buhari, Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) as well as all Nigerian Muslims at this trying moment,” he said.
The MURIC boss who is a member of the Ulama (Muslim scholars) said that being part of the team which officiated during this year’s pilgrimage, his organisation can affirm that officials of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) performed their duties as expected of them including the airlift of Nigerians to Saudi Arabia which was hitch-free.
While saying that the Saudi authorities lied when they tried to squarely blame African pilgrims, he said the stampede would not have occurred if Saudi security agents had disallowed pilgrims returning from the jamaraat from taking the same route back since the practice over the years have always been to take a detour but which was not enforced on Thursday.