There was a mild drama at the Kano Hajj Camp on Friday when one of the intending pilgrims who was left behind was sighted dressed in the haram white robe and declared that he had already started his pilgrimage at the camp.
It was gathered that the stranded pilgrim, who was identified as Malam Jibrin Abdu from the Gezawa Local Government Area of the state, became the centre of attraction at the camp.
“I have started already since we have all the facilities here and I will surely come back and complete it. I know how to do it. This is not my first time and will surely not be the last,” he said, adding that he sold his farmland just to go for the pilgrimage “but some unruly leaders made it impossible,” even as he accepted it was the will of God.
Aside Malam Abdu, a woman, Suwaiba Sani, alongside several other intending pilgrims were said to have rained curses on “all those who have hands in our plight”, with the woman, who was lamenting aggressively, insisting she would not forgive all those that made it impossible for her and others to make the pilgrimage.
Meanwhile, Jaiz Bank, which handled the hajj savings scheme for most of the intending pilgrims who could not make it to the Holy land from Kano, had absolved itself of any culpability in the failed exercise.
An Executive Director with the bank, Ahmad Alhaji Hassan, told the intending pilgrims that the bank paid N114.4 million to the Kano State Pilgrims Board and N583.6 million to NAHCON being the total of the N2.4 million each it collected from the 285 intending pilgrims that participated in the savings scheme.
He promised that the bank would kick-start the process of getting back the money for all those that could not make it to the Holy land for the pilgrimage.
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