No fewer than 100 intending pilgrims from Kwara State will miss this year’s Hajj exercise, the State Pilgrims Welfare Board has said.
Alhaji AbdulSalam Abdulkadir, the agency’s executive secretary, while disclosing this on Sunday during a sensitisation programme held for the intending pilgrims, said the affected persons were those who could not complete the additional N1.9 million added to the hajj fare.
The Informant247 reports that the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) had increased the fare for the 2024 pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia by N1.9 million, saying those who had deposited N4.9 million will now pay N6.8 million in total, owing to the forex crisis which Nigeria has been battling for months.
Abdulkadir said, “95 per cent of the intending pilgrims this year are first-timers. However, we have over 100 outstanding pilgrims who could not make the additional payment of N1.9 million.”
The state Ameerul Hajj, Senator Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe, while urging for patience, assured the pilgrims that they would be airlifted from the state this time around.