The Adamawa State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board says it has concluded plans to airlift 221 intending pilgrims to Jerusalem on June 29.
Acting Executive Secretary of the Board, Ms Angelina Emmanuel disclosed this in Yola.
She said the board has successfully screened all the intending pilgrims both at the state level and local governments.
“We have 179 prospective pilgrims from the state and 42 from the local government areas, where two persons were selected from each of the 21 local government areas in the state.
“Altogether we have 221 registered prospective pilgrims from the state who would be airlifted on June 29 to Jerusalem,” she said.
Emmanuel said the screening conducted for intending pilgrims was towards achieving a seamless 2024 Christian Pilgrimage.
According to her, the screening was a demonstration of the government’s commitment to safeguard pilgrims’ health and ensure proper documentation before travelling.
The Executive Secretary said the screening was conducted by various bodies including; a team of medical personnel, officials from Nigerian Immigration Service, Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and Department of State Service (DSS) among others.
“The exercise is an annual routine to ascertain the health status of intending pilgrims, ensuring relevant documents such as international passport, yellow card, COVID-19 card are complete and accurate.
“The officials also do a background check on pilgrims’ personality and guarantors to avoid abscondment, while those with chronic diseases, less than 30 years and pregnant women are disqualified,” she said.
