Jerusalem: Ogun disqualifies 20 intending pilgrims

About 20 intending Christian pilgrims from Ogun State billed to go to Israel in December 2018 were disqualified during in a screening exercise for “lacking basic pilgrimage requirements.”

It was learnt that the exercise was jointly carried out by the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission, the Ogun State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board and relevant security agencies.

The State Board Executive Secretary, Wole Odejobi, told journalists in Abeokuta that those affected were disqualified for “lacking basic pilgrimage requirements.”

According to him, “the screening exercise was in line with pilgrimage best practices, to protect the reputation of the State and thwart the plot of some unscrupulous people who want to use the pilgrimage exercise as an opportunity to abscond.”

Odejobi said in as much as the state wanted higher participation of Christians in holy pilgrimage to Israel, standard and regulations must be followed.

He noted that some of them failed because of “inability to give main reason for going on pilgrimage, age barrier of less than the 40 years, discrepancies in their records, lack of Christian discipline, while others could not give cogent reason for leaving their state’s Boards in the eastern and northern part of Nigeria for Ogun state Christian Board among others.”