10th October, 2015
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) on Saturday said it had so far transported 36,269 pilgrims from Mecca, Saudi Arabia, back to Nigeria.
The commission had transported more than 66,000 Nigerians to Saudi Arabia for the 2015 Hajj.
The Director, Public Affairs of the commission, Alhaji Uba Mana, said this while fielding questions from the News agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Mecca.
Mana said the exercise had been hitch-free since its commencement on Monday, Sept. 28, adding that the pilgrims had been transported in 93 flights.
He said the commission had started transporting pilgrims from Kano on Oct. 9, while most of the pilgrims from Lagos, Ogun, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kogi, Abuja, Gombe, Bauchi, Katsina. Borno, Nassarawa and Jigawa were transported back home.
Mana assured that the exercise would be concluded on schedule, stressing that air carriers had been working hard to achieve that.
He urged pilgrims not to carry Zamzam water to Jeddah or Madinah airports as 5-litre gallon of the water would be given to each pilgrim at Nigerian airports.
He also urged the pilgrims not to exceed 32 kilogrammes for main luggage and 8 kilogrammes for hand luggage.
NAN reports that at least three million Muslims from across the world participated in this year’s Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
Most of them had gone through Madinah to visit the tomb of the Messenger of God, Prophet Muhammad (SAW), other important Islamic sites and offered prayers before proceeding to Mecca for the pilgrimage.
Others who could not visit Madinah before Arafat were expected to do so before leaving Saudi Arabia to their respective countries.