TWENTY Nigerian pilgrims have been confirmed dead, out of over 70,000 participating in this year’s hajj exercise.
The figure released by the chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nige- ria (NAHCON), Abdullahi Mukhtar, inclusive of the six who died in the September 11 crane crash in Makkah.
He made the disclosure on Sunday night at a stakeholders’ meeting at the Nigeria Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, ahead of the pilgrims movement to Muna, yesterday, and ahead of the Arafat day, tomorrow.
Fourteen other pilgrims, he noted, died from natural causes and other ailments. Meanwhile, it took the intervention of the Emir of Kano and leader of the 2015 Hajj Central Coordinating Team, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi 11, to resolve three contentious issues that have generated divergent opinions among Nigerian Ula-
mas, concerning hajj rites. The first is the timing concerning movement to Jamarat, where the symbolic stoning of the devil takes place, the second is the number of days pilgrims are required to spend in Muna, after Arafat and the third be- ing movement to Muna, two days before Arafat.
After about two hours meeting with the Ulamas, with verifiable facts from Islamic jurisprudence to support his position, Sanusi urged Nigerian pilgrims and the Ulamas to accept the timing arrangement of Saudi Arabia authority for the Jamarat ritual, including movement to Muna, from Monday’s, concerning this year’s hajj exercise.
He said officials and pilgrims should follow whatever arrangement the Saudi authority would make in the interest of saving lives and welfare of pilgrims and perform the rites in accordance with the schedule by the Saudi authority, a position many Nigerian Ulamas have kicked against.
Earlier, NAHCON Chairman, Abdullahi Mukhtar Muhammed warned against the likelihood of some Ulamas going against the timing, saying the Saudi authority has warned Nigeria on that and may sanctioned the country, if it fails to abide by it.
Meanwhile, ahead of President Muhammadu Buhari’s official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Nigeria embassy in Saudi Arabia, has cried out over its inability to renew vehicle papers by the embassy, most of which have since expired.
This was disclosed by the Charge ‘d’ Affairs Nigeria Embassy, Riyadh, Ambassador Tijjani Hammanjoda, while making his presentation at the 2015 pre-Arafat meeting in Jeddah, on Sunday.
The accumulated fines arise from the use of vehicles, though owned by states, but used by private individuals in Saudi Arabia, after being sold to them
Source:The Sun
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