Amiru Hajj Expresses Concern Over Delay In Airlift Pilgrims Back Home

Kwara Amirul Hajj urges Federal Government to prioritise allocation of aviation fuel for the smooth airlift of pilgrims

The Kwara State 2022 Amirul Hajj to Saudi Arabia, Dr Awa Ibraheem has passionately appealed to the Federal Government to prioritise allocation of aviation fuel to the aircrafts involved in the airlifting exercise of the pilgrims particularly those from Kwara State.

Dr Awa Ibraheem made the plea in a telephone interview from Saudi Arabia.

According to him, such immediately intervention of the government would avoid a situation where Nigerian pilgrims would be stranded in Saudi Arabia after they have completed all the Hajj rites.

The Amirul Hajj, however expressed concern over the delay in the airlift of pilgrims back home at the initial scheduled time lamenting that most of them have exhausted their funds.

“The aviation fuel situation in Nigeria has been causing flights distruption , we hope and pray that the situation will soon be overcome, Dr Awa Ibraheem added”.

However, he assured the last batch of pilgrims from Kwara state that the officials of the state Moslem Pilgrims Welfare Board are walking round the clock to ensure that the third and the last batch are airlifted back home in a couple of days.

The Amirul Hajj commended pilgrims from the state for their patience, perseverance and for being good ambassadors of themselves, their families, Islam, the state and the entire nation as non of them who went through the board were found wanting.

Recently, te umbrella body for domestic airlines in the country, Airline Operators of Nigeria ( AON) notified air transport passengers that the sector has been hit by a major crisis , an acute scarcity of aviation fuel which was expected to cause intermittent flight delays and cancellation.

Since the start of this year, the airline operators in the country, have complained about the scarcity and rising cost of aviation fuel.

Meanwhile, the second batch of pilgrims from the state numbering 560 including NAHCON officials arrived Friday via Max Air at the Ilorin International Airport at about three o’clock in the early hours of the morning.