…as NAHCON winds up airlifting of pilgrims June 24
Lagos State Government has successfully airlifted 3,655 pilgrims to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the Year 2023 holy pilgrimage exercise.
The safe arrival of the eleventh and last batch of 171 intending pilgrims which landed at the King AbdulAzeez International Airport, Madinah, on Wednesday, at exactly 7.45pm Saudi Arabian time, brought the first leg of the operation to conclusion.
The batch comprising of 130 males and 41 females which included paid intending pilgrims and State Government officials, departed the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria, aboard a Flynas airline flight XY5627 at 11.05 am Nigerian time.
With the arrival of the eleventh batch, the total number of pilgrims airlifted by the State is now 3,655. The first batch was 390, second 428; third 50; fourth 253; fifth 426 while the sixth flight had 417.
On the seventh flight were 415 intending pilgrims; eight 375; ninth 356; tenth 181 and the eleventh 171. In summary, the State has 2,023 female pilgrims (55.3 per cent) and 1,632 males (44.7 per cent) respectively in her contingent.
Speaking on the successful completion of the airlifting exercise, the Head of the State Hajj team, Prince Anofiu Olanrewaju Elegushi expressed his delight and gratitude to the Almighty for the successes recorded with the first leg of the operation.
Elegushi appealed to the pilgrims to obey all the laid-down rules and regulations guiding their stay in the holy land, be focused on the main purpose of embarking on the journey, avoid all illegal and illegitimate dealings and conduct themselves in a civilized manner in order not to tarnish the enviable image of the State and Nigeria at large.
In a related development, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, has said the outbound movement of pilgrims from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia would be winding up on Saturday, June 24.
Fatima Sanda Usara, the Commission’s Asst. Director, Public Affairs, made this revelation in a statement released on Thursday, June 22.
She said NAHCON has in the last 27 days succeeded in airlifting over 71,000 thousand Nigerian pilgrims aboard 170 flights, noting that the remaining pilgrims will be airlifted before the closure of airlifting operations.
“Before today, Aero Contractors Airline, Max Air, Air Peace, have all concluded conveyance of their allocated pilgrims to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia while Azman has one more flight to conclude. FlyNas is expected to close the window of this year’s outbound airlift of pilgrims from public quota, due to technical hitches that pinioned its movement on few occasions.
“For this and other reasons, 23rd and 24th of June still remain open for landing of Nigerian pilgrims into Saudi Arabia for the 2023 Hajj.
“Hence, while FlyNas would conclude conveyance of pilgrims on government quota by 23rd. Max Air, on rescue services, would conclude conveyance of private tour operators passengers by the 24th of June. A special flight that would convey officials has been arranged to take off also on the 23rd, Friday.”
The Commission therefore called on any eligible pilgrims with valid travel documents that have not been contacted for the journey to approach the nearest pilgrims’ welfare agency for confirmation and subsequent dispatch to the Kingdom for the 2023 Hajj exercise.
