Abuja—Against the backdrop of disappointments experienced during the outbound flight operations to the Holy Land, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, has said it will refund no fewer than 1,550 Muslim pilgrims who had paid their Hajj fares but could not be airlifted to Saudi Arabia before the closure of Jedda airport.
NAHCON disclosed this, yesterday, in response to an inquiry by Vanguard on the fate of the affected pilgrims.
According to Fatima Sanda Usara, NAHCON’s Assistant Director, Public Affairs, the commission regrets the last minute setbacks that frustrated its plan to conclude airlift of all intending pilgrims across the country by June 27.
She explained that the chartered flight option that gave so much hope to NAHCON and the private tour operators’ leadership also became a failure as their IBAN accounts failed accreditation by the respective authorities in Saudi Arabia.
Usara, however, stated that the commission had learned a lot of lessons and was determined not to have a repeat of the unfortunate situation.
She said: “The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, humbly acknowledges that it owes deep and unreserved regrets to entire intending pilgrims to 2022 Hajj for the hardships and disappointments experienced during outbound airlift operations to the holy land.
“The commission offers similar apologies to the Federal Government, State Pilgrims’ Welfare Boards, private tour operators, and the general public for any embarrassment the situation of the past few weeks might have caused.
“Sadly, despite all efforts to airlift all Nigerian intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the 2022 Hajj, NAHCON was incapacitated in discharging this responsibility fully, majorly due to last minute setbacks that frustrated its plan to conclude airlift of pilgrims by June 27 this year.
“The commission gives assurance that all affected pilgrims will be refunded their Hajj fares, while it will work towards improving its deficiencies next time.”
