Lagos govt reschedules airlift of Hajj pilgrims

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Lagos govt reschedules airlift of Hajj pilgrims

The Lagos State Government has rescheduled the ongoing airlifting of Lagos State intending pilgrims to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the 2023 holy pilgrimage exercise to Wednesday, June 14 and Thursday, June 15.

The immediate-past Commissioner for Home Affairs, Anofiu Elegushi, disclosed this while addressing the yet-to-be-airlifted intending pilgrims at the Shamsi Adisa Thomas Mosque, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, according to a statement by the state government.

“Elegushi reiterated that the initial dates given by Flynas Airline for the airlifting exercise, which was announced during the one-day seminar held at De-Blue Roof, Lagos Television ground, Agidingbi, Ikeja, was between Sunday, June 4 and Saturday, June 17.

“The former commissioner explained further that Lagos State was privileged to kick-start its airlifting early on Thursday, June 1, because the states that were originally scheduled for airlifting between June 1 and 3 were not ready to airlift their pilgrims, hence, the state made use of the opportunity when approached by the airline to bring the state’s intending pilgrims for airlifting.

“He added that the affected states are now ready to airlift their intending pilgrims between June 10 and 13,” the statement said.

Elegushi noted that Lagos had been able to airlift 3,110 intending pilgrims out of a total allocation of 3,644 to Saudi Arabia since the commencement of the airlifting exercise.

He added that amongst the 36 states in Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos is the first to have accomplished such a feat.