2,644 Pilgrims Return, NAHCON Plans Refund Over Poor Services

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has so far transported back to Nigeria 2,644 out of the 95, 000 Nigerian pilgrims that performed the just ended 2023 Hajj exercise in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Among them, 426 pilgrims from Sokoto State and 373 pilgrims from Zamfara State departed Jeddah yesterday aboard Flynas flight XY7814 and Flynas flight XY7640 respectively to Sultan Abubakar International Airport, Sokoto.

The flights brought the number of flights that had departed the Holy Land of Saudi Arabia, after the conclusion of the 2023 Hajj exercise, to six flights within the two days of home-bound journey.

The first flight of home-bound operation, conveying 425 pilgrims of Sokoto State from the King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, landed at the Sultan Abubakar International Airport, Sokoto, at about 6pm on Tuesday, July 4.

Thereafter, the second, third, and fourth flights, FLYNAS flight XY7740,  AIRPEACE flight APK7901 and FLYNAS flight XY7952, all departed Jeddah with 387 Osun State pilgrims, 262 Kwara pilgrims and another batch of 387 pilgrims from Osun State to Lagos respectively.

According to the head of aviation committee of NAHCON, Engineer Goni Sanda, the return home journey would be strictly on the initial sequence of pilgrims’ journey to the Holy land, first come, first served, saying every pilgrim and official is expected to spend a minimum of 40 to 43 days in the Holy Land before they are airlifted back to Nigeria.

While appealing to pilgrims and the operators to conduct the home-bound journeys orderly, he, however, revealed that the Saudi Arabian authorities had a policy in place that do not allow air carriers to operate maximally during the first two-week return flight operations due to traffic congestion and the large number of aircraft involved in the evacuation of pilgrims from the Holy Land to different continents and countries of the world.

Meanwhile, the leadership of NAHCON, led by its chairman, Alhaji Zilkrullah Kunle Hassan, had since intensified efforts, holding series of meetings, to speed up the return flights as many of the pilgrims, including journalists who had spent more than one month reporting the spiritual pilgrimage, had expressed their desire to return home.

Some of the journalists and other ad-hoc officials of NAHCON told LEADERSHIP in the holiest city of Makkah that their families had been inundating them with enquiries as to when they would return home after the Arafat and Eid-el-Kabir festival.

Meanwhile, NAHCON has set up an eight-man committee to review the services offered to Nigerian pilgrims at the Masha’ir during the just concluded 2023 Hajj exercise.

The committee will, among other things, review the 2023 Hajj Masha’ir services provided to Nigerian pilgrims by Company of Muttawwifs for African Non-Arab countries and come up with a recommendation and position paper.

The decision was part of the resolution reached at the meeting between NAHCON, State Muslim pilgrims’ welfare boards and tour operators held at the Commission’s Ummul-judd office in Makkah. The meeting was attended by the executive secretaries/chairmen or Amirul Hajj of the 36 states, FCT, the Armed Forces and members of AHOUN.

According to a statement issued by Alhaji Mousa Ubandawaki, deputy director of information and publication, NAHCON, the committee is to also establish the services provided as contained in the contract for all packages and recommended for compensation/ refund as the case may be.