Stampede: Pilgrims Urged to Comply with Jamarat Procedure

Jameelah Sanda in Makkah Saudi Arabia
The Nigerian Hajj Commission (NAHCON) has advised pilgrims to comply with the new modalities adopted by Saudi Hajj Ministry for the stoning ritual in Jamarat.

This is just as the Chief Executive Officer of NAHCON,  Abdullahi Mukhtar, arrived Madina, Saudi Arabia, to work hand-in-hand with the Saudi authorities  to avoid last year’s tragedy.

A statement released in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, by its national coordinator Ibrahim Muhammed said: “Nigerian pilgrims should comply with the new guidelines issued by Saudi Hajj Ministry for the stoning of Jamarat.”

Also, during a meeting with Nigerian officials and other African countries in Mina on Monday, the Saudi Arabia Hajj Ministry official, Sheikh Mohammed, said arrangements have been concluded to assign guides who will lead a cluster of 250 pilgrims at a time to the Jamarat and back.

He said two guides from the state pilgrims’ boards and Saudi Hajj Ministry would lead the group to perform the stoning rituals and also lead them back to their tent.
He threatened that pilgrims who violate the arrangement will be made to face the consequence while their state officials will also be held responsible.

In the same vein, the civil society group called for urgent alliance among hajj information dissemination machinery in Saudi Arabia to take the message to pilgrims’ accommodations.”

The group in the statement called for concerted efforts among state pilgrims’ welfare boards’ officials; the enlightments unit of NAHCON, preachers, pilgrims’ guides and the national media team to urgently embark on sensitisation campaign on the issue before the commencement of movement of pilgrims to Mina.

“Pilgrims should be made to understand that the measure being adopted is geared towards their safety and comfort. The penalty that will be meted out for violators should also be spelt out clearly to them, so that those who wish to toe the line of disobedience will understand the likely consequence of their actions,” the civil society group said.

“While we commend the enlightment unit of NAHCON for its timely information dissemination strategy, we urge them to fuse their machinery with those of states pilgrims’ welfare boards especially on this issue of Jamarat timing,” the statement said.