Tunde Omolehin, Sokoto
Sokoto State Deputy Governor Hon. Manir Muhammad Dan’iya has described the just concluded 2019 Hajj pilgrimage as hitch free and successful.
Dan’iya, who is also the leader of the State Pilgrim contingent disclosed this in Sokoto, when the last batch of 235 pilgrims arrived in Sokoto from Jeddah airport, marking the end of the airlift of Muslim pilgrims from Saudi Arabia.
He said that since the Hajj was inaugurated, the exercise continues to record success as all 3,496 pilgrims were airlifted to Madina for visitations to historical sites before the commencement of the Hajj.
The Deputy Governor, however, announced the loss of a pilgrim in the Holy Land who had died as a result of ailment and old age.
“In the entire 2019 Hajj exercise, Sokoto lost only an elderly woman in Medina due to severe ailment and was buried in madina,” Dan’iya said.
He added the State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, through the state Pilgrim Welfare Agency, had made befitting accommodation arrangements for pilgrims to ease transportation to and from religious sites.
Dan’iya applauded Governor Tambuwal for the gesture of N24,000 given to the state’s 3,496 pilgrims.
“This is with additional regular meals being offered to the entire pilgrims for free since their arrival in the Holy Land. Their medical needs were also taken care of all, courtesy of Governor Tambuwal.”
The Amirul Hajj said the pilgrims on their part acted as good ambassadors of Sokoto and Nigeria as no pilgrim from Sokoto was found wanting in any act that would have tarnished the good name of the country.
Dan’iya rated the airlift operation 75% in terms of delivery of aircraft to transport the state pilgrims, despite delays from the National Hajj Commission during and after the exercise.