Following the averted air mishap that hindered the airlift of the first batch of Jigawa State pilgrims on Wednesday night to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for this year’s Hajj, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has allayed the fear of the pilgrims, saying the unfortunate incident will not derail their movement to the Holy Land.
The chairman of the commission, Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan, in a statement signed by Fatima Sanda Usara, assistant director of public affairs, NAHCON, said arrangement has been concluded for remedial operation for any delayed or cancelled flight that would hinder the smooth transportation of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.
NAHCON’s contracted air carrier conveying 454 Jigawa pilgrims to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had a sudden air-return landing at Aminu Kano International Airport on Wednesday night due to an uncontrollable natural circumstance, heavy rainfall.
The NAHCON boss, while acknowledging that the natural occurrence had caused an inevitable delay, said the situation has been well managed and will not derail the Jigawa pilgrims’ movement to the Holy Land.
Meanwhile, the 2023 Hajj airlift from Nigeria has entered day seven with over 33 flights so far recorded with Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa States all completing the airlift of their pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, while other states were recording steady progress as well.
Recall that to speed up the airlift of all Nigerian intending pilgrims to this year’s hajj, NAHCON had increased the number of its air carriers to five.
So far, 14,188 Nigerian pilgrims are safely in Madinah and the number of flights transporting pilgrims to the Kingdom will also increase in a couple of days as intending pilgrims are enjoined to remain in a state of readiness at all times for imminent departure to Saudi Arabia.
The first batch of Nigerian pilgrims will storm Makkah on Friday after spending eight days in Medina.
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