… as NAHCON airlifts 40,888 Nigerians
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Passports has announced that as of Saturday, a total of 961,903 pilgrims arrived the Kingdom to participate in this year’s Hajj exercise, which will tentatively start on Wednesday, June 4.
The figure released by the Directorate, included a total of 40,052 Nigerian pilgrims airlifted to the Kingdom by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria in a total of 99 flights from various departure centres across Nigeria.
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Quoting the Directorate, Saudi newspaper, Saudi Gazette, reported on Sunday that the pilgrims arrived the Kingdom through, air, land and sea ports.
The newspaper reported that 912,598 pilgrims arrived through the six designated airports, 45,028 through land crossings, while 4,277 entered the Kingdom via sea.
The number of pilgrims arriving in Saudi Arabia is expected to increase in the coming days before the official closure of Saudi airspace on May 31.
As of Sunday, NAHCON airlifted a total of 40,888 Nigerians to participate in this year’s Hajj in a total of 101 flights.
According to data on the airlift operation made available by NAHCON’s Command and Control Centre in Abuja, of the 40,888 Nigerian pilgrims, a total of 36,836 landed at the Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah in 93 flights, while 4,049 Nigerians landed at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah in eight flights.
NAHCON Assistant Director, Information and Publication, Fatima Sanda Usara, told Tribune Online in a chat that the Nigerian flights that landed in Jeddah was as a result of slots allocation by the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA).
She added that all Nigerian pilgrims are going first to Madinah before going to Makkah.
“All pilgrims go to Madinah. Any flight that lands in Jeddah is due to slot allocation by GACA,” she said.
The Nigerian contingent already in the Holy Land is made up of 26,591 and 14,294 female pilgrims.
No fewer than 27,743 Nigerian pilgrims, according to the NAHCON data, had arrived Makkah after spending four days in Madinah, while about 12,409 are still in Madinah and are expected to join their compatriots in Makkah before the commencement of the five-day Hajj exercise.
In another development, the Saudi Supreme Court has called on Muslims across the Kingdom to look out for the crescent of the moon of Dhul Hijjah, in which Hajj takes place, in the evening of Tuesday, May 27, which is equivalent to 29th Dhul Qada.
Saudi Gazette newspaper reported today that the Supreme Court in a statement it released today urged anyone who sighted “the crescent moon with the naked eye or through binoculars to promptly report to the nearest court and submit their testimony or contact the nearest town center for assistance in reaching the nearest court.”
The Hajj rites commence on the 8th Dhul Hijjah when pilgrims will move to Muna, also known as the Tent City, to pass the night before heading to Arafat the following day, marking the peak of the Hajj rites.
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