Ibrahim Layode, Lagos State Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture, on Saturday said 1,400 intending pilgrims including officials from the state will perform the 2025 Pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
Layode disclosed this during a free medical screening for intending pilgrims in Badagry, Lagos State.
According to him, 1,400 bed spaces have been arranged for the intending pilgrims and officials of the ministry in Saudi Arabia.
He said that the state would not provide additional pilgrims, adding that arrangement had been concluded on comfortability of the number.
He said the state had organised the free medical screening to ensure that intending pilgrims from the state were tested and free from diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV and other contagious diseases.
“Mr governor has said we should ensure that each one of them go through this screening to know about their health challenges.
“Previous years, we have seen a lot of people facing different health challenges.
“There was a time we had someone stuck at the Hajj for about four months because of health challenges, so the governor said we have to put an end to this.
“We need to be very healthy to perform the Hajj right, so the governor has made it seamless by making it free for all our intending pilgrims preparing to travel to Saudi Arabia.
“Everybody is being encouraged by the governor to partake in this exercise, so they will know the status of their medical health,” he said.
Also, Alhaji Abdul-Akeem Ajumade, the newly appointed Secretary of Lagos State Pilgrims Welfare Board, urged the intending pilgrims to take advantage of the screening to check and know their health status.
