Pilgrims from Nigeria, West Africa, who took part in this year’s Hajj have started returning to their home country with first batches of Lagos and Katsina states seen being airlifted from the King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The DEFENDER’s checks showed that over 400 among Lagos pilgrims were moved by FlyNas plane at around 5.00 pm Saudi Arabian time (3.00pm Nigerian time) while Katsina followed as arranged by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
According to plan, Katsina’s first batch of the returning pilgrims followed in second flight taken by MaxAir same Saturday.
Our sources at Ibrahim Khalil Road hotels of Lagos and Katsina’s pilgrims, where Sokoto pilgrims also lodged, said Sunday morning that there were indications second batches of the two states will also be airlifted Sunday evening to arrive the two Nigerian destinations midnight.
It was not clear as at press time when airlifting of Sokoto pilgrims and others will commence.
Over 60,000 Nigerians participated in the 2019 Hajj exercise partaken in by over 1.8 million pilgrims from across the continents globally.
The pilgrims began the hajj by observing some days of special prayers at the Prophet’s mosque in Madinah, which is the second holiest city in Muslim world, the first being Makkah while third Mosjidil Aqsa in Jerusalem.
They also created time to visit many religious and historic sites, including mount Uhud, the oldest Islamic mosque (Quba) and Qur’anic exhibition centre in Madinah among others.
The climax of the pilgrimage was a day-long special prayer at the Plain of Mount Arafat, the place where Prophet Muhammad (SAW) delivered his last sermon according to the Islamic tradition and the symbolic throwing of pebbles at the devil at Jamrat.
The pilgrims then celebrated Eid-el-Kabir festival and slaughtered rams; a sacrifice emulating Prophet Abraham (AS).
NAHCON disclosed that Nigeria lost 10 pilgrims during the exercise.
