The Ogun State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board (OGSMPWB), has fixed July 19 as the take off date for the first batch of the State’s Pilgrims to this year’s Hajj, calling on the concerned intending pilgrims to adequately prepare.
The Executive Secretary of the Board, Alhaji Abdul Hakeem Kalejaiye, disclosed this at the final seminar organized for the Pilgrims, held at the Valley View Auditorium, Government House, Abeokuta
Kalejaiye said that, the National Hajj Commission had tentatively fixed July 19, for Ogun to airlift, saying if the date remains unchanged, the first batch of 315 Pilgrims would be airlifted as scheduled, calling on them to check the list on the agency’s notice board by Monday July 15, 2019.
. Earlier in his remarks, The Chairman of the Hajj Committee, Alhaji Muftau Majekodunmi, expressed optimism in the success of this year’s hajj, admonishing the Pilgrims to fear Allah and avoid any conduct that could tarnish the image of the board and the state as a whole.
The Amir-ul Hajj, Alhaji Yekin Parakoyi urged the participants at the seminar to be good ambassadors of Islam in the holy land.
Meanwhile, the Ogun State Commander, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Alhaji Ishaku Yusuf has warned intending pilgrims in the State to steer clear of trafficking illicit drugs to Saudi Arabia as this attract death penalty according to Saudi authority.
He stated this while delivering a lecture with the theme “Drug Trafficking, Offences and Prohibited Items’’ at a seminar organised by the Board for the 2019 intending pilgrims to Mecca and Medina held in Abeokuta.
Yusuf advised pilgrims to avoid carrying kolanut, bittercola and other improvised hard drug such as gum, tramadol among others, urging them to be extra vigilant at the airport and not carry any other person luggage.
In his lecture on Immigration Guidelines and Pilgrims’ Luggage Policy ,the Wakil of Remoland, Sheikh Musbau Salako said everybody will be screened no matter the population of the pilgrims, urging them to be disciplined and respect the law.
He noted that their luggage should not be more than 40 Kilogrammes, explaining that the hand luggage must not be more than 8 Kilogrammes while the main luggage must not be more than 32 Kilogrammes .
