About 3,000 Nigerian pilgrims have been transported to Saudi Arabia, according to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
The Executive Chairman of the Commission, Alhaji Abdullahi Mohammed, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
He said the pilgrims, who were transported through Sokoto, Lagos and Abuja international airports, were from Zamfara, Osun, Oyo, Kwara and Kogi States.
“So we have over 3,000 pilgrims in the holy land, they are all in Medina and they are observing their pilgrimage rites under the guidance of our officials and medical team who were already there.
“We hope before the next 24 hours, we will have four more flights that will arrive the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“So far, we don’t have any issue regarding the transportation of intending pilgrims, things are moving as planned and scheduled,’’ Mohammed said.
He said that the commission had made adequate arrangement to ensure quick response to emergencies in case of any eventuality while performing hajj.
According to him, measures have been put in place to address issues relating to identification of pilgrims in the event of any stampede during the pilgrimage.
“As a result of that, we decided to introduce an electronic wristband that will contain personal and medical data of each pilgrim.
“The wristband has a General Packet Radio Service device (GPRS), SOS button alert and a wristwatch which will be given to each of the 2016 hajj pilgrims at a cost of N8,400,’’ he said.
Mohammed said that NAHCON would set up a situation room in Mecca for the management of the electronic wristbands.
He said that the commission had collected swap DNA sample of each pilgrim which would be used in the event of any emergency for easy identification of any pilgrims from the country.
Mohammed said that NAHCON had continued to educate the pilgrims on the need for them to abide by the Saudi’s timing on activities relating to the hajj.
He warned pilgrims to avoid crowd-congested area, behave orderly and should always be accompanied by their guides.
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