Just In: Five Nigerian pilgrims die in Saudi Arabia

Five Nigerian pilgrims to this year’s hajj in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, have died.

Abdullahi Mohammed, Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), initally announced the passage of four pilgrims on Tuesday in Makkah, Islam’s holiest city.

But shortly after his speech, an official on the medical team of NAHCON announced the passage of another pilgrim from Kwara.

Premium Times quoted Mohammed as saying this during the 2017 pre-Arafat meeting with Hajj stakeholders, adding that he declined to disclose the identities of the late pilgrims and the circumstances that led to their death.

He said such information could only be disclosed after their families had been appropriately informed.

Mohammed pleaded with the media to withhold the details so as not to further devastate the families of the affected pilgrims.

A total 81,200 Nigerian pilgrims are performing this year’s hajj. All of them have converged on Makkah after some of them visited and prayed at the Prophet Mohammed’s mosque in Madinah.

A few other pilgrims came directly to Makkah after flying into Saudi Arabia through the nearby city of Jeddah.

All the pilgrims have performed the rites of Umrah, the lesser hajj, at al-Masjid al-Haram, situated the Kabah.

On Wednesday, the pilgrims, like their counterparts from other parts of the world, will move to the city of Mina to spend the eve of the 9th of Dhul-Hijah.

They will then proceed to Arafat on Thursday, praising Allah and reciting the Qur’an.