By Innocent Odoh
Abuja
Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), John Kennedy Opara, has tasked the leaders of the Conference of States of the pilgrims’ welfare boards to work assiduously for self sponsorship to keep pilgrimage activities on.
He gave the charge yesterday in Abuja when the NCPC met with the Conference of States to map out strategies for this year’s pilgrimage.
He said it had become necessary following the decision of the federal and state governments to cut down on the expenditure and the cost of running pilgrimage activities, adding that the focus was to sensitise Christians anywhere to sponsor themselves, and get corporate bodies, local government chairmen and other private stakeholders to promote pilgrimage.
On the Chibok girls’ abduction, he said: “It is our prayer; it is our hope, that the Lord Almighty will help us through and bring this to an end. For sure this children that have been kidnapped in no distant time we will bring them back to their families.”
He said the “NCPC is working as a team with the state secretariat in taking decisions about pilgrimage operations,” adding that “they are targeting about 30,000 people to participate in this year’s pilgrimage exercise.”
In the same vein, the Chairman of the NCPC, Reverend Nicolas Okoh, said the abduction of the children in Chibok “is an unfortunate event within a bigger unfortunate situation. The real unfortunate situation is the advent of Boko Haram, because if there were no Boko Haram, there will be no abduction.”