Date: 2016-08-03

The inaugural flight for intending pilgrims for the 2016 pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia from Kwara State has been fixed for Tuesday, August 9.

The Executive Secretary of the Kwara State Muslim Pilgrims Board, Hajia Fatimoh Abolore-Jimoh disclosed this while speaking with The Herald. She said arrangement had been perfected to airlift the first batch of 500 Kwara pilgrims from the Ilorin International Airport. The total number of 1,944 and ten officials would perform the 2016 Hajj from Kwara state.

The Executive Secretary said the names of the first batch of pilgrims would be pasted at the board's premises as part of the preparation for the holy trip. Abolore-Jimoh warned all the intending pilgrims against carrying Kolanuts, palm oil or other intoxicants to the airport which she said were forbidden by Saudi Arabia authorities.

The Sultan of Sokoto and President of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar had said that the inaugural flight from the country for this year's Hajj exercise would commence on August 8 from the Sultan Abubakar III Airport in Sokoto State.

The Sultan who was represented at a one-day Hajj Stakeholders Conference in Abuja last week by the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, said the first flight would convey pilgrims from Zamfara State.