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Operators Excited As S/Arabia Reopens Hajj To Foreign Pilgrims

Published

2 years ago

March 7, 2022

Hajj and umrah operators have expressed relief over the announcement by Saudi Arabia lifting the suspension on Nigeria and 17 other countries.

The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, in a statement Monday, assured foreign pilgrims of participation in the 2022 hajj after a two-year suspension occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It said COVID-19 vaccination was the only basic requirement for pilgrims and that further information would be released in due course.

Some hajj and umrah operators, who spoke to Daily Trust, said the announcement signaled the commencement of their business.

Vice President, Association of Hajj and Umrah Operators of Nigeria, Alhaji Qasim Alabi, said: “We’ve long been waiting for the good news and it came at a time we thought the travel ban will remain in force in view of the fact Ramadan is drawing nearer.

“The removal of the travel ban is therefore a welcome development and great relief for the hajj and Umrah travel industry in Nigeria.”

The Managing Director of B&C International Travel Agency Limited based in Maiduguri, Bachullu Goni Modu, said it was a great relief for the operators, but feared that passengers’ turnout might be low because of the difficult economic terrain.

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“The passengers will be very low because of the difficulty in the country today. People don’t have enough cash in their hands and that’s the only challenge we’ll have,” he said.

Abubakar Adeshola of Bridgestone Travel and Tours, said: “As usual, the expectation is actually high, but with the situation of the country, one is not actually optimistic.”

An intending umrah pilgrim, Alhaji Abdulrasaq, said he had hoped to perform lesser hajj last month when Saudi banned direct flights from Nigeria, expressing delight over the reopening of the Kingdom to foreign pilgrims.

Meanwhile, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria yesterday said guidelines for the 2022 hajj would be release after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.

NAHCON, in a statement yesterday by its spokesperson, Fatima Sanda Usara, said with the heightened hope that international hajj would be open in the 2022, it received the pleasant news of the uplifting of direct travel ban into Saudi Arabia effective from March 5.

“The only requirement for entry into the Kingdom is full vaccination with the accompanying registration on Tawakkalna and Eatmarna apps as gateway.”

The commission urged intending pilgrims to desist from travelling with prohibited items such as “illicit drugs and kola nuts.

“They should recall that penalty for drug trafficking in Saudi Arabia is death. Besides, NAHCON is in full collaboration with NDLEA and other interrelated agencies in ensuring that such persons are apprehended before embarking on the trip.”

Daily Trust

Related Topics:Featured foreign Hajj Operators Pilgrims S/Arabia

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Place arms embargo on Nigeria, IPOB tells Italy

Published

6 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Trends Admin

Place arms embargo on Nigeria, IPOB tells Italy

The separatist group, IPOB, has called upon the Italian government to halt the sale of air force jets to Nigeria due to ongoing human rights violations against indigenous people and communities in the country

IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, emphasized the need for all civilized nations to refrain from further supplying military hardware and software to Nigeria.

Powerful said, “The Nigerian government has created the terrorist groups that they are pretending to have been fighting in order to displace indigenous nations and allow individuals in power to loot the country’s funds.

“Therefore, we appeal to the Italian government to stop the military aircraft purchase deal they entered into with the Nigerian government.

“We also ask other countries considering selling arms to Nigeria to stop because Nigeria is not using the arms for their intended purposes.”

He stated that “IPOB has no intention to interfere with the Italian Government’s business but wants to inform them that the Nigeria military has not used the previously acquired arms and ammunition including fighter jets to fight terrorists who operate in the open in Northern Nigeria but have targeted innocent and peaceful people”.

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“Unarmed IPOB members have also been the victims of Nigerian military’s brutality,” Powerful said. “Some of the Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) Camps in Nigeria have been intentionally bombed by the Nigeria military to prevent the displaced persons from returning to their communities already ceded to the terrorists as their own.”

He said, “Recently, an Okuama Community in Delta State, Nigeria, was invaded, bombed, and the entire community displaced by the Nigerian military. The Nigerian government and her military are known for human rights violations and genocide against her civilians.”

The IPOB spokesperson further stated: “In 2021, the Nigerian Air Force bought “12” A-29 Super Tucano Jets from the United States of America to fight terrorism in Nigeria.

“After the delivery of those fighter jets, they were deployed in the Eastern region of the country and were used in bombing of Igbo villages and their people mostly in Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State.

“From the day the Tucano jets arrived in Nigeria in 2021 till late 2023, they were never used against terrorists but were consistently used in the bombing of innocent people in Imo State in the Eastern part of the country that is Biafra land and also in the bombing of IDP camps in the North who are victims of Boko Haram terrorist attacks.”

IPOB urged the Italian government to “halt the sale of jets to the Nigerian government because their fight against terrorism is a hoax”.

“The Italian government should not fall into the Nigerian government’s deception,” he said.

The Italian government should not fall into the Nigerian government’s deception,” he said.

“Any supply of arms and ammunition to the Nigerian government is a tacit support to human rights abuse and violations. The Italian government and her citizens are civilized and should not support any government that is violating the fundamental human rights of her citizens.

“We are calling on the Italian Prime Minister, Ms. Giorgia Meloni, to place an arms embargo on the Nigerian government for their history of bombing civilian populations and for human rights violations,” he added.

Place arms embargo on Nigeria, IPOB tells Italy

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Netizens mock prophet who prophesied world will end today

Published

6 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Trends Admin

Netizens mock prophet who prophesied world will end today

Social media users have reacted to a self-proclaimed preacher named Prophet Metuh, who has declared that the world will come to an end on Thursday, April 25.

According to him, he received a ‘clear message’ from God, indicating that April 25, 2024, marks the final day for humanity.

In a video that has since gone viral on X, Metuh said: “By the 25th of April, the world is going to end. If you like take this seriously, if you don’t like don’t take it seriously.

“But this is real, rapture is coming, on the 25th of April 2024, I saw it very clear, do you understand? I saw the date very clear and the lord ministered to me. He mentioned it twice, it has happened twice.”

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He also chastised social media users who were criticising him for his claim of rapture.

“This is not a joke, this is a reality. Rapture is coming, prepare yourself. The message was very clear and the date is also very clear, 25th of April 2024. Rapture is coming. The world has come to an end and that is just the reality.”

“I have seen a lot of reactions and comments on social media but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you have to prepare yourself. The message was very clear, it is not for me to finetune for you to be happy or for you to like it. It is to pass the message as I got it and that is what I have done.

Netizens mock prophet who prophesied world will end today

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Bullying: Tacha accuses Nigerians of ‘selective outrage’

Published

6 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Trends Admin

Bullying: Tacha accuses Nigerians of ‘selective outrage’

Reality star Tacha has tackled Nigerians on what she described as ‘selective outrage’ following the trending internet topic, bullying.

Her criticism followed a video capturing the bullying of a student by her classmates at Lead British International School in Abuja circulated online.

Angered by the outrage that followed the video, Tacha lambasted Nigerians for being hypocrites.

On her platform X, she uploaded a video where she criticized social media users, emphasizing that many of those advocating for justice in the prominent bullying incident were also prone to swift criticism and may have exhibited bullying behaviour during their own secondary school days.

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She said: “This thing with Nigerians and selective outrage is something that I would never understand. All of a sudden everyone is acting brand new screaming ‘justice for…’ since yesterday and today, as if you guys were not bullies back in secondary school. Or as if you guys did not watch your friend bully junior students for doing absolutely nothing or seizing their food.

“You people wake up and bully celebrities unprovoked and insult them and nobody says anything. Is that not bullying? Are you not bullies yourselves? Justice for you! Justice for Tacha too that you people would insult unprovoked. Even if the person that they are owing over a million naira, no outrage because it’s someone that you don’t like. Hypocrites! Don’t come and be disturbing this timeline with justice for…’”