Kaduna State pilgrims have urged Governor Uba Sani and the State House of Assembly members to probe the accommodations and other services secured for them in Makkah.
The pilgrims said the accommodations are poor, far away from Makkah Grand Mosque and located in mountainous areas of the Islam’s holiest city.
The Executive Secretary of the Kaduna State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Dr Yusuf Yakubu Arrigasiyyu, has been accused by some of the pilgrims of renting about 1,400 bed spaces in Kudai Zamzam, a mountainous neighborhood far way from the holy mosque.
A pilgrim, Sani Iliyasu, who spoke to this newspaper by telephone said, said many of them are worried when they were told that parts of their accommodations was in Kudai Zamzam.
“The place is far away, isolated, substandard and located in hilly area with very poor topography,” he said.
He said their fear is that it will make it very difficult for them to even attend the five daily prayers in the holy mosque.
Mr Arrigasiyyu, had secured some 1,400 accommodations in the far end of Kudai Zamzam, it was learned.
A female pilgrim, Hajiya Fati, said she once stayed in that area more than 10 years ago. “It is the farthest pilgrims accommodation I know. The topography is vey challenging as well. That informed our anxiety. Because of these factors , the area has been deserted and isolated over the years,” she said.
Officials of the state pilgrims board have confirmed the pilgrims fears to this newspaper. They said the ES engaged two agents for the accommodations.
“One of the agents is reliable and well known, but the second one can best be described as ‘brief case’ agent. Surprisingly, the barely known agent was given the largest chunk of the accommodation for reasons best known to ES Arrigasiyyu,” an official who was not authorized to speak said.
“It was the ‘brief case’ agent that secured the 1,400 accommodations in Kudai Zamzam area, which is indeed far away, hilly and isolated,” another official said.
It was learned that Nigerian hajj authorities, had for many years, stopped the country’s pilgrims from residing in those areas due to these problems.
The Kaduna official said the pilgrims, who are mostly old timers and now in Madinah got wind of this development and started protesting.
However, Mr Arrigasiyyu, it was gathered, is now going helter -skelter looking for alternative bed spaces for the 1,400 pilgrims.
The accommodation crisis is worsened by the fact that Governor Uba Sani will attend this year’s hajj, “and definitely visit and interface with Kaduna pilgrims. That is the major headache for ES Arrigasiyyu. That explains the need to change the Kudai Zamzam accommodation. He is afraid of a backlash,” an insider said.
Hajiya Fati has called on Governor Uba Sani and the state lawmakers to investigate the Makkah accommodations procurement as well as other services rendered to the pilgrims.
“The Kudai Zamzam accommodation is not what we paid for. Don’t forget we paid about N3 million each to be here. It is below our standard. There must be underhand deal that only diligent probe by the governor and the state assembly can unravel,” she said.
This newspaper has learned that the ES has now returned to the same reliable accommodation provider he earlier jettisoned for help. “It is not clear whether he would secure these 1,400 bed spaces before pilgrims’ movement to Muna on June 26,” an official said.
About 2,600 Kaduna pilgrims have been airlifted to Madinah so far, leaving nearly 4,000 others in Nigeria.
The state has the largest number of pilgrims this year. However, its pilgrims airlift has been replete with so many operational challenges.
With just three days to the NAHCON’s deadline of airlifting all pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, some of the Kaduna intending pilgrims have expressed worry over the snail pace of the airlift operation.
They said their approved airline, Azman Air, has been deploying small-capacity aircraft to transport them to the holy land.
They appealed to the state governor to intervene with a view to save them from missing this year’s hajj.
Spokesperson of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Mousa Ubandawaki, last week in a statement assured that the commission would conclude airlift of all Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia before June 20.
This deadline is only three days away.
In his reaction, Mr Arrigasiyyu said the “information about Kudai Zamzam accommodations is not all correct.”
Speaking on Saturday through his Special Assistant Ibrahim Shehu Giwa, the ES explained that he had secured good accommodations for over 5,900 state pilgrims who got visa.
He, however, confirmed that the board is still searching for additional bed spaces for hundreds of its other pilgrims.
The ES said NAHCON had added 700 pilgrims slots to Kaduna State but later slashed it to 525. “The visa for these additional intending pilgrims is still ongoing. It is their accommodation that we are looking for now in Makkah,” he said.
Ruling out the Kudai Zamzam accommodations, Mr Arrigasiyyu said Kaduna officials are still in Makkah searching for a better accommodation for the additional pilgrims.
