HAJJ 2016: SAUDI ARABIA TO REPLACE 4000 BUSES USED BY NIGERIAN PILGRIMS

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, has said that about 4000 buses mostly used by Nigerian pilgrims would be replaced by Saudi Arabia authorities ahead of the year 2016 hajj exercise.

The chairman of the commission, Abdullahi Mohammed, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja when he hosted a delegation of the Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria.
Mr. Mohammed said the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other measures put in place by the commission led to better deals for Nigerian pilgrims to the country.
He said Saudi authorities have assured of better accommodation arrangements for Nigerian pilgrims on Mina tent city.
“The Saudi Arabia authorities have assured us that only buses from 2008 models would be used by our pilgrims and that about 4000 of the existing buses would be withdrawn and replaced with new ones.
“The visit of President Muhammadu Buhari also led to the Saudi government assuring us that there would be change in the location of Nigerian tent in Mina to be closer to the Jamrat (for the symbolic stoning of the devils rite),” Mr. Mohammed said.
The NAHCON chairman also said due to the prediction that hajj seasons will take place during high temperature seasons for some years from now, the Saudi Arabia government would improve the cooling system in the tents and extend it to the camps too.

He also commiserated with the visitors over the death of a journalist, Bilkisu Yusuf, who was among the casualties in the Mina stampede during last year’s hajj, saying she died while serving female pilgrims as an official of the commission.
The chairman of MMPN, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, represented by the Vice Chairman, Medina Dauda, said the association was committed to assisting the commission to realise its objectives.
She said MMPN, formed in 1993, had monitored NAHCON’s activities with satisfaction.
She called on the commission to be more open and make information available to the media for dissemination to the public at all times.