Return Airlift of Nigerian Pilgrims from Mecca Begins Today, Says Executive Secretary

Laleye Dipo in Minna

The return airlift of Nigerian pilgrims to this year’s hajj in Saudi Arabia will commence today.

The Niger State Pilgrims Welfare Board said in a statement credited to the Executive Secretary of the Board, Alhaji Umar Makun Lapai, that the return journey would be according to the way the pilgrims departed to the holy land.

According to the statement, the schedule for the return trip was agreed at a meeting with pilgrim officials and those of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, in Mecca.

The statement signed by Danladi Hassan Idris for the Executive Secretary, Makun Lapai, stated that: “Nigeria pilgrims to this year’s hajj will begin their return journey from July 15, 2022, and end on August 13, 2022.

“The Executive Secretary, Niger State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Umar Makun Lapai, who disclosed this in Saudi Arabia, said this was the outcome of their meeting with the management of National Hajj Commission of Nigeria NAHCON,” he said, adding that: “Pilgrims will return in batches the same way they came to the holy land.”

The statement urged the pilgrims  to exercise patience and  pray fervently for Nigeria and Niger State in particular for peace and tranquility.

Lapai, according to the statement, further explained that the board would begin the issuance of 32kg bag to Niger State pilgrims on July 17, 2022.

It was learnt that Borno State pilgrims were the first batch to depart Nigeria for the pilgrimage while 2,256 pilgrims from

Niger State are in Mecca for the hajj.