Tag Archives: NAHCON

NAHCON Denies Buhari Gave Foreign Exchange Waiver To Hajj Pilgrims

Posted on by
1

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) on Sunday said the Federal Government has not given foreign exchange waiver to Nigerian pilgrims performing hajj this year.

The commission’s Head of Media, Uba Mana, said this in a statement in Abuja on Sunday.

“The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria wishes to draw the attention of the public that the Federal Government has not given foreign exchange waiver to Nigerian pilgrims performing this year’s hajj,” Mr. Mana said.

“If there is one thing that the Government did for the Nigerian pilgrims, it was to allow the exchange rate prevalent at the time of payment of Hajj fare in February when the current flexible exchange rate was not in action to subsist.

“It is therefore wrong and mischievous for some persons or media organisations to peddle unfounded claims that the Federal Government gave the Nigerian pilgrims a waiver,’’ he said in the statement.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Presidency had earlier clarified the concessions of foreign exchange rate of N191 to one dollar for the 2016 intending pilgrims to Hajj and Jerusalem.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President, Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the policy was non-discriminatory.

He said that it had been approved before the current foreign exchange regime came into effect.

 He also said that that the Central Bank of Nigeria had confirmed the approval, wondering why the apex bank had not notified the public earlier.

President Muhammadu Buhari has been roundly condemned for approving foreign exchange concession to pilgrims at a time the economy is struggling.

Read More:

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/208227-nahcon-denies-buhari-gave-foreign-exchange-waiver-hajj-pilgrims.html

Hajj Stampede Update: 274 Nigerians Confirmed Dead, 44 Missing —NAHCON

Posted on by
Reply

The commissioner for information, library research and statistics, National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Dr Saleh Okenwa, has disclosed that 274 Nigerian pilgrims have been confirmed dead in the tragic Hajj stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia during this year’s Hajj operation.

 

Dr Okenwa, who disclosed this yesterday in Abuja at a press a conference to give an update on the September 24 stampede in the holy land, said 44 other Nigerian pilgrims are still missing while two were injured as a result of the incident.

 

The 2015 Hajj witnessed a crane accident which occurred at Saudi Grand Mosque on Friday, 11th September and a stampede which occurred nearly a fortnight later on Thursday, September 24.

 

According to the NAHCON commissioner, the two tragic incidents witnessed during the pilgrimage occurred despite efforts by both Saudi authorities and Nigerian Hajj officials to make the exercise hitch-free.

 

He said the tragic incidents should be accepted as the will of Almighty God, praying that Allah would “accept the victims of the tragedies as martyrs and grant their families and loved ones the fortitude to bear the loss”.

 

Okenwa said that the commission has been working since the occurrence of the stampede to get all relevant and accurate information regarding the details of the Nigerian victims, adding that the commission constituted several committees charged with the responsibility of handling issues arising from the Hajj tragedies.

 

Okenwa further said, “In cases where the corpses were mutilated, fingerprint analysis matching with entry data in the Saudi Immigration Service” were used in identifying the victims.

 

He added, “In extreme cases where the bodies were mutilated beyond fingerprint analysis, direct relatives of the victims who also came for Hajj were required to provide blood samples in the hospital”.

 

The NAHCON commissioner added that dead victims were buried in numbered graves, adding that despite all the efforts made, there were cases where the bodies were unidentifiable and relatives of the victims were not available in the kingdom (of Saudi Arabia) for DNA provision. In such cases, the dead bodies were buried on the directives of the Saudi authorities, in line with avoidance of health hazards to the living.

 

Concerning missing pilgrims who could not be confirmed dead because there was no certified evidence of their identities, he said, “Nigeria recorded 44 of such cases, hence the need for DNA of the relatives of the missing pilgrims”.

 

He, however, explained that this situation is not peculiar to Nigeria alone as many other countries had their own share of the tragedies in various degrees.

 

Credit : Leadership

NAHCON honours pilgrim for returning missing money

Posted on by
1

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) on Wednesday rewarded a pilgrim from Nasarawa State, Suleman Bello, for returning money belonging to an Afghanistan Pilgrim, Haji Mosa Gousdin.

The Pilgrim had returned 2,345 US Dollars (N466,655), 303 Saudi Riyals (N16,076) and 3,020 AFN (N9,370) to the Nassarawa State Pilgrim Welfare Board, which subsequently took the money to NAHCON.

Presenting the money to the owner through an official of the Afghanistan Hajj Ministry, Sayed Tahir Hashimi in Mecca, NAHCON Chairman, Abdullahi Mukhtar, said Bello would participate in next year’s hajj on the ticket of the commission.

“This is a reward for honesty and truthfulness. Bello is a worthy representative of Muslims community in Nigeria and Nigerians in General,’’ he said.

Mukhtar said the pilgrim had chosen to honour his religion and to project the image of Nigeria rather than to use the money for selfish personal interest.

“This is to prove to you that Nigerians are honest and truthful. We appreciate Bello’s gesture. This shows that he is a good Muslim and true Nigerian.’’

Receiving the money on behalf of the pilgrim, Hashimi thanked NAHCON for contacting Afghan’s officials in Mecca, who inturn, traced the owner of the money.

He appreciated the effort of both the pilgrim and NAHCON, adding, “May Allah reward Bello with Aljannah Firdausi.’’

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Gousdin, who could not hide his happiness, said he would forever remember the good gesture of Nigerians.

(NAN)