Nigeria is the only country that officially protested the inadequate bed spaces in Mina during the five days of Hajj and eventually get additional spaces.
Many countries complaint of lack of enough spaces in Mina in this year’s Hajj, but the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) went beyond complaints in the media to formally protest to the company muttawifs for Africa non Arab countries.
After filing the complaint, the Saudi authorities eventually allocated additional 10,000 bed spaces to Nigeria. After the inspection of the spaces by a team from the commission led by the Chairman Alhaji Zikirullah Kunle Hassan, the commission met with the leadership of States delegation to Hajj to agree on whose pilgrims needed the spaces the most so that they can be moved immediately.
HAJJ REPORTERS findings however, showed that the states became reluctant to move their pilgrims.
A source at the commission informed us that “ the states refused to utilize the spaces available and the commission had no option than to allocate the spaces to pilgrims of private tour operators’
He also said “ at the end of the day, only about 1200 pilgrims of tour operators moved out of the 10,000 spaces available
Another source, who also declined to be named said the states refused to move their pilgrims to the alternative spaces “so that they can ask for a refunds “.
