Independent Hajj Reporters (IHR), has called for the arrest and prosecution of all persons who manufacture, publish and circulate unverified and misleading information about recruitment of staff into the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) as well as enlistment into Hajj 2024 National Medical Team.
In a statement Sunday, IHR recalled that NAHCON had recently issued a statement to debunk a fake news item about recruitment of Nurses for the 2024 Hajj being promoted by fraudulent individuals.
IHR also recalled that before the 2023 Hajj, some disgruntled elements had created a website and shared the links to unsuspecting members of the public alleging that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia was sponsoring thousands of people from Nigeria to hajj free of charge.
An online fact checker, Pesacheck, traced the internet protocol address link to a location in Oyo state.
Also, while the national coordinator of this group was in Saudi Arabia for pre-Hajj preparations visits, a lot of people kept calling him to verify the authenticity of Saudi Arabian recruitment of hajj volunteers from Nigeria to assist in this year’s hajj.
According to them, the information was broadcast in the Mosque urging those who are interested to apply through a certain foundation.
Blueprint findings revealed that a female founder of the so-called foundation went to convince the imam of a mosque in Kaduna that she was tasked with the job of recruiting hajj volunteers seeking the assistance of the imam to help broadcast the news which he obliged.
After discovering that the lady had no such opportunity, the imam quickly made a counter announcement withdrawing his earlier statement regarding the recruitment of hajj volunteers from Nigeria.
