NAHCON asked to peg pilgrims’ age to 75 years

The Kwara State Amirul Hajj for the 2017 pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, Professor Suleiman Jamiu, has suggested that the Federal Government and the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) should peg the age upper limit of pilgrims from the country to 75 years.

He said this would reduce the burden the executive or members of the various state Muslims pilgrims welfare boards face in taking care of the aged pilgrims particularly those of them not accompanied by younger relations.

Jamiu, a Professor of Islamic Studies in the Kwara State University, Malete, told our correspondent that those in charge of the screening of the pilgrims in subsequent hajj operations needed to ensure that only healthy and able bodied people were cleared to perform the pilgrimage.

According to him, two pilgrims , one Fulani male pilgrim and another female who hailed from Ogbomosho in Oyo State but travelled from Kwara, died during this year’s pilgrimage while a total number of 14 Nigerian pilgrims died from across the country.

The Amirul Hajj observed that all pilgrims from the state were airlifted to Saudi Arabia and brought back home on schedule and commended the state government for not sponsoring any politician for the pilgrimage this year as he alleged that some politicians sponsored by government always disrupted hajj exercises.