Zamfara State Hajj Commission on Wednesday confirmed the death of five of its pilgrims during the 2018 Hajj exercise in Saudi Arabia.

The Commission’s chairman, Alhaji Abubukar S-Pawa made this known while speaking to newsmen on the 2018 hajj in Gusau.

According S-Pawa, among the deceased were three All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmen of Maru, Kaura-Namoda and Shinkafi Local Government Areas.

He said the three chairmen lost their lives in a motor accident on their way to Medina from Makkah and two other persons.

He said the two other deceased persons were Ayuba Azare and Fadimatu Sani Makaranta from Gusau Local Government who lost their lives as a result of brief illness.

He described the incidence as unfortunate and prayed to Almighty Allah to grant the deceased with Aljannatul Firdausi (highest Paradise) and give their families the fortitude to bear the loss.

“We experienced delay while transporting our pilgrims to Saudi Arabia which was caused by the delay in full payment of the fare by the pilgrims.

“Despite those challenges, we recorded tremendous successes”.

“Our pilgrims performed the exercise in good health condition apart from those five deceased persons, all the 2,168 pilgrims from Zamfara returned home safely.

“We recorded various successes, especially in the areas of accommodation, transportation and the general welfare of our pilgrims,” he said.

“On behalf of Governor Abdul’aziz Yari and Zamfara State Government, I commend our pilgrims for exhibiting maturity and good conducts during the exercise.

“We also appreciate the efforts of National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) led by Barrister Abdullahi Mukhtar, staff of the Commission, Amirul Hajj and his team and all other stakeholders who contributed to the successes recorded,” he said.

S-Pawa further said that the Commission had already commenced the collection of deposit for 2019 Hajj fare.

“Since after our return from the last Hajj exercise, we attended a meeting in Abuja with the National Hajj Commission where we reviewed the concluded exercise and set some measures to address some of the challenges recorded,” he added.

He advised intending pilgrims to always contact the officials assigned by the commission to collect the deposit before depositing their money in order to guard against fraudsters. (NAN)

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