The Oyo State Muslim Pilgrim Welfare Board said the Department of State Security Service (DSS) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) will screen pilgrims for Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
The Board Chairman, Alhaji Taofeek Akewugbagold, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan, on Monday.
Akewugbagold said the two agencies would join the board in screening pilgrims, with a view to detecting those who could be trying to ferry drugs and other contraband to Saudi Arabia.
He said screening committee, which would include the DSS, NDLEA and other law enforcement agencies had been inaugurated.
The chairman, who said the committee would screen the pilgrims before their departure from Oyo State to Lagos, noted that the decision was taken in order to `nip in the bud’ any pilgrim who could be laden with contraband in order to stop them from embarrassing the state.
“We have made arrangements for each pilgrim to submit their luggage for screening, a week before departure to Mecca. The luggage will be searched in the presence of each pilgrim,” he said.
“The pilgrims will not be able to touch their luggage after the screening in Oyo until when boarding the flight from Lagos to Saudi Arabia,’’ Akewugbagold said.
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