By Umar Bayo Abdulwahab
Ilorin
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON, has cleared the air over the purported ban of pilgrims airlift from the Ilorin International airport ahead of the 2017 hajj operations.
The commission said though it had no intention to ban pilgrims’ airlift from the Ilorin airport, it however, expressed concern that most of the pilgrims arrested for drug trafficking in Saudi Arabia came in through the Ilorin International Airport.
The Ilorin zone of the NAHCON usually comprise of intending pilgrims from, Ondo, Ekiti and Kwara for airlifting to the holy land of Saudi Arabia.
NAHCON’s Head of Corporate Affairs, (Media Unit) ,Hajia Fatima Mustapha, made the clarifications while fielding questions from journalists in Ilorin.
Mustapha was in Ilorin with the commission media officer, Alhaji Mousa Ubandawaki and other national officers to pay a visit to a former director in the old Nigeria Pilgrims Commission, Ambassador Abdulkadir Imam in his GRA residence.
The NACHON’s image maker said the commission was not banning pilgrims airlift from the airport, but was putting drastic measures to checkmate drug trafficking through the airport.
She expressed hope that the measures would address the challenges before the commencement of pilgrims airlift for the 2017 hajj operations, adding: “Most of the people arrested for drug traffickers in Saudi Arabia, we discovered, came from Kwara.
“We are not saying they are Kwarans, but maybe there is connivance. May be the airport is porous, may be the equipment are obsolete and cannot detect drug’’, Hajia Mustapha said.
The NAHCON’s spokesperson said the commission was collaborating with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Orientation Agency (NOA) and other relevant agencies to enlighten intending pilgrims on illegal practices they must shun.
She said a ‘‘drama on the dangers and ills associated with drug trafficking’’ would be staged during enlightenment campaigns for intending pilgrims.
