Borno: Accomodation, Welfare For Saudi Pilgrims Gulped N500m

The Borno State Government Tuesday disclosed that it had spent a whopping N500m on accommodation and welfare for indigenes of the state on holy pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia for this year's hajj.

The state deputy governor, Alhaji Zannah Umar Mustapha, who is also the leader of the state delegation to the holy pilgrimage (Amirul Hajj), disclosed this while speaking with journalists in Maiduguri, the state capital, from Saudi Arabia.

Mustapha said the state government had to embark on the expenditure to ensure that the state's delegation to this year's hajj was well taken care of , stressing that the money was expended in providing befitting accommodation for the pilgrims as well as providing them with the Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) .

The deputy governor said the state government also gave out 300 Saudi Riyals to each of the 2,645 pilgrims as subsidy for slaughtering of the sacrificial rams, disclosing that plans were in place to make their return trip as exciting as possible.

Appealing to the Federal Government to re-open the Maiduguri International Airport, Mustapha said: “This is to avert the difficult situation the state found itself especially the risky movement of pilgrims from Maiduguri to Jigawa and Kano for this year's airlift to holy Land.”

According to the Amirul Hajj, despite the prevailing security challenges in the state, the Governor Kashim Shettima-led Government has remained steadfast in ensuring hitch-free hajj in the last four years.

Mustapha however expressed gratitude to the governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, and his Kano State counterpart, Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso, for the great assistance they rendered to Borno pilgrims who were airlifted to Saudi from airports in both states.