By Ismaila Jimoh, Abuja
Federal Capital Territory Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board, MPWB, has vowed not to compromise with the welfare and wellbeing of its pilgrims who traveled to Saudi Arabia to perform this year’s pilgrimage.
The Director of the FCT Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board, Malam Abubakar Adamu Evuti gave the assurance while speaking to newsmen in Makkah, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Evuti urged the pilgrims to be rest assure that the Board is committed and will continue to give priority to their wellbeing interms of accommodations, Feedings and health throughout their period of stay in the Holy Land upto the end of June as the case maybe when the FCT contingents are expected back home Nigeria after the completion of the Hajj rites.
“But we want to assure them that their feedings is not going to be compromise, their accommodations where there is challenge it will not be compromise, we will also make sure that even the healthcare system will be provided so let them be rest assure that up to the time that we are going to stay here, up to the end of June as the case may be FCT pilgrims will be giving the best of it provisions in terms of health, accommodations and feedings,” he added.
While commenting on the likelihood of any health challenge that would be above capacity of the FCT Pilgrims Body, Malam Evuti noted that such person will be refer to National Body of Hajj Coordination in Nigeria, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, for immediate action.
According to the Director, “We as a Board, our job here is the welfare and wellbeing of the pilgrims and that is the paramount responsibility here. And we have to be very vigilant from the beginning up to the end”.
Evuti, also explained that, the FCT pilgrims started arriving the holy land on the 15th of May 2024, first in Medinah and after 4 days they were moved to Makkah where the Hajj exercise will be observed.
He hinted that, “Before now all the pilgrims of Nigeria from FCT are already in the country and once they have arrived we are doing the best we can, their welfare, their wellbeing, in term of accommodations, feedings, interns of health, we want to assure them it will be provided from the time they arrived into this country and up to the time we are going to leave this country inshallah”.
The Director who noted that any Nigeria who is in the Holy land is an ambassador of the country either as Pilgrims, journalists, or Hajj workers, urged them not to create any kind of propaganda in such a manner that the whole world will look at them as the worse people in the world.
“Other countries are here, they are been fed, they are not even been fed properly but no body is complaining not only that even in terms of accommodations and where they’re located you will find out that they are very far away from Haram and no body is complaining but you see FCT pilgrims apart from being provided with nice food and being given an accommodations very close to Haram, unlike other states but yet they are not satisfied, a little matter that need to be resolved amicably, they go on social media all in the name of mischief.
“I want to appeal to all of us that this is a country which belong to all of us, we don’t have any other country but Nigeria. So once we are outside our country and we are in another country, we should project the image of the country not going to bring the country disrepute in terms of making wrong report of all actually was not happening,” he speaks further.
