Five Nigerian pilgrims to this year’s hajj in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, have died.
The Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Abdullahi Mohammed, announced the passage of four the pilgrims in Tuesday in Makkah, Islam’s holiest city.
Mr. Mohammed, who spoke at the 2017 pre-Arafat meeting with Hajj stakeholders, however declined to disclosed the identities of the late pilgrims as well as the circumstances that led to their death.
He said such information could only be disclosed after their families had been appropriately informed.
The Nahcon chair pleaded with the media to withhold the details so as not to further devastate the families of the affected pilgrims
Shortly after the chairman spoke, an official on the medical team of Nahcon announced the passage of another pilgrim from Kwara.
A total 81,200 Nigerian pilgrims are performing this year’s hajj, all of whom have converged on Makkah after some of them visited and prayed at the Prophet Mohammed’s mosque in Madinah.
