How Dissolved Katsina pilgrims’ board lodged pilgrims in abandoned house during 2019 hajj – Amirul hajj

by admin

 

Hajj Reporters

The leaders of Katsina state delegation for 2019 hajj Alhaji Muntari Lawal has revealed how the former board lodged some pilgrims in an abandoned building in Makkah during 2019 hajj exercise.

 

Alhaji Lawal made the revelation yesterday when he presented the 2019 Hajj report to the state governor, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari at the government house in Katsina State.

According to him ‘This house was unoccupied for the past 16 years. The house was inhabited by rats and other rodents. And the worse of it female and male pilgrims were both accommodated in this same house,’ he lamented

He said that the impression given by pilgrim officials that the house for pilgrims was secured close to the Holy Mosque turned out to be a lie, as some of the houses were 50 kilometers away from the Holy Mosque.

The Amirul hajj decried that all the ambulances for the Hajj operations for Katsina State were immovable due to lack of particulars for easy movement during the Hajj operations.
stressing that “these ambulances cannot go to Madina, Arfat, Muna because they don’t have the required documents. And in cases of emergencies they are of no use to Katsina pilgrims’.

The major challenges, he said was the intrusion of private (Mujabala) pilgrims from Katsina State who often dislodge legitimate pilgrims from their accommodation.

He disclosed that during the 2019 Hajj exercise 150 legitimate pilgrims were dislodged by these private pilgrims, disclosing that he had to personally call the governor where additional funds were released to secure accommodation for the stranded pilgrims.

The Amirul Hajj stressed that ‘these private pilgrims although on their own but always insist on been fed, accommodated and transported by the pilgrim’s board. Most of them are powerful people in society’.

He, however, noted that a total number of 854 pilgrims had various health challenges during the exercise, while four pilgrims that include two females and two males died during the exercise.

In a remark, Governor Aminu Bello Masari lamented that most of these private pilgrims comprise of Ulamas, politicians with the connivance of some pilgrims officials.
He said the government would convene a meeting of stakeholders to discuss on ways to address lingering problems bedevilling Hajj operations in the state.

 

You may also like

Leave a Comment