Over four hundred pilgrims from Kebbi State who performed this year’s holy pilgrimage in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, are back in Nigeria.
The
pilgrims arrived at Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport Birnin Kebbi this
Monday.
Chief
Press Secretary to Kebbi State Governor, Ahmed Idris, confirmed the successful
arrival of the pilgrims in a statement.
Idris
said the flight conveyed pilgrims from Argungu and Dandi local government areas
of the state, as well as some Kebbi government officials.
He said the third plane is expected to depart Saudi Arabia
on Sunday night and arrive Nigeria next Monday morning.
In
an interview with newsmen, the country’s minister of health, Fahd Al-Jalajel
said 83 per cent of the 1,301 fatalities in this year’s Hajj were unauthorised pilgrims who walked long
distances in high temperatures to perform the hajj rituals.
The
minister said 95 pilgrims were being treated in hospitals, some of whom were
airlifted for treatment in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.