The Kwara State Muslim Pilgrims’ Welfare Board has fixed July 14, 2019 for the take-off of the first batch of 530 intending Pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the 2019 Hajj pilgrimage.
Alhaji Mohammed Tunde-Jimoh, Executive Secretary of the Board, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin on Sunday.
He said the board had organised series of enlightenment programmes for the 2,000 intending pilgrims from the 16 local government areas of the state.
According to him, Max Airline would airlift 2,000 intending pilgrims from the Ilorin lnternational Airport in four batches with 24 hours interval between the flights.
Tunde-Jimoh said the Board had secured 1,520 visas while the b
alance would be secured before the take-off of the first batch.
“The issues of Basic Travelling Allowance (BTA) for intending pilgrims and yellow cards from Airport Health Authorities had reached advanced stage to facilitate a hitch-free pilgrimage,’’ he said.
The executive secretary said the Board had suspended Biometric data capturing for the pilgrims in line with the directive from the Saudi authority.
He said the Board would disqualify any pilgrim that violates standing rules of the Hajj exercise and the laws of Saudi Arabia.
Tunde-Jimoh warned the intending pilgrims against traveling with Kolanuts and other prohibited items to the holy land, saying that scanning machines would be deployed to the airport to fish out carriers of illicit materials.
Justice Abdullateef Kamaldeen, Khadi, Kwara State Sharia Court of Appeal, had earlier demonstrated the Hajj exercise to the intending pilgrims.
