7th August, 2016
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has commended the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Nigeria for making visa application process for the 2016 intending pilgrims to hajj easier.
The Executive Chairman of NAHCON, Alhaji Abdullahi Muhammad, made the commendation in statement issued in Abuja on Sunday.
Muhammad said that the commitment and devotion of Saudi’s embassy and consulate in Kano and Abuja greatly reduced the hardship and eased the issuance process for the pilgrims.
“On behalf of the management of NAHCON, I want to express our gratitude to the embassy and consulate in Nigeria.
“Their efforts have really served us well in terms of the swiftness in which the pilgrims visa processing is being handled,” Muhammad said.
He also applauded the chief executives of the various state pilgrims welfare boards for their hard work, which had contributed to the lower number of visa cancellation and errors.
The NAHCON boss urged them to also step up the pilgrims’ enlightenment programme to educate the pilgrims on how to handle their passport and other travelling documents during the hajj.
According to him, more than 50,000 visa applications have been printed by the two designated visa processing centres in Kano and Abuja.
Meanwhile, the advanced team of 52 NAHCON officials and the National Medical Team have arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and they have all taken positions at their duty posts.
The first batch of 500 Nigerian pilgrims from Zamfara will depart from the Sultan Abubakar International Airport, Sokoto for the holy pilgrimage on Aug.8.