Probe 2022 Hajj Operations Says Group

An association under the aegis of the Association for Hajj and Umrah Operators of Nigeria (AHOUN) has called on the federal government to investigate the 2022 Hajj Operation in the country in which many intending pilgrims failed to be airlifted.

The National President of the association Alhaji Nasidi Yahaya Sulaiman made the call on Saturday, while addressing pressmen at the NUJ Press Center Kano State North Western Nigeria.

He said that the call is aimed at restoring sanity into future operations.

“What happened is really pathetic in the history of Hajj Operation in the country”, he said.

According to him, over 700 international intending pilgrims that are supposed to travel to the holy land for this year’s pilgrimage are stranded in Kano, Abuja and Lagos.

“We appeal to the federal government of Nigeria to as a matter of urgency set up a powerful and genuine panel to review this year’s Hajj activity from scratch‘, he said.

He noted that ‘It happened because NAHCON failed to provide alternative carriers as rescue flights to airlift the pilgrims.”

According to him, the action has caused a lot of damage to the operational reputations of their companies and a lot of emotional trauma to clients.

‘Out of our 55 companies 2,750 intending pilgrims deposited 1.2 Million Naira each to the NAHCON account.

“Therefore, we call on NAHCON to immediately start remitting the entire amount for onward disbursement to our clients,” said Suliaman.

The association also appeal to the intending pilgrims that suffered the avoidable stress to accept apologies and bear with them as they work for the refund of their monies.

The group therefore urged the national assembly to set up committee that will look into the consideration of amending NAHCON act 2006, so that all stakeholders especially tour operators can have important roles to play in the system.