Governor of Anambra state, Mr. Peter Obi, has flagged off this year’s edition of Easter Pilgrimage exercise at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.
A statement issued by the information officer of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC), Celestine Oguguo, yesterday in Abuja, said Obi advised the intending pilgrims from his state to pray fervently for President Goodluck Jonathan and Nigeria, stressing that “you have no country except Nigeria.”
In his address at the event, the Executive Secretary of the NCPC, Mr. John Kennedy Opara, thanked Jonathan for the approval to fly intending pilgrims from the South-east through the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.
He also thanked the governor for ensuring his state’s participation in the Easter pilgrimage, saying that “pilgrimage is a spiritual exercise and not a jamboree.”
The flag-off ceremony, the first of its kind to be held in the South East Zone since the introduction of Easter pilgrimage by NCPC, witnessed the presence of the Chairman of NCPC, His Grace, Most Reverend Nicholas D. Okoh, who prayed for the pilgrims.
The inaugural flight of intending pilgrims of Anambra state to Israel for the Easter pilgrimage was made up of 184 intending pilgrims.
A total of 700 intending pilgrims from the state would be airlifted to Israel this first batch which has started from March 01 to March 05.
