The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) yesterday said transportation of the 2014 intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia was progressing as planned.
The Director, Media Affairs of the commission, Mr Uba Mana, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
Mana said the commission had so far transported 8,861 pilgrims “and hopefully by the end of the day, we would have transported over 10,000 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia’’.
Reacting to the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), the director said the situation was not peculiar to Nigeria, saying that it concerned the entire Muslim community.
He said screening for the virus would continue bearing in mind the contagious nature of the disease
“We have been very thorough in our screening, even as the pilgrims are stepping into the aircraft.
“The moment we discover any symptom, no matter how highly-placed the person may be, he or she will have to disembark,” he said.
He said the commission was doing this to protect the image of the country and the religion of Islam.
Mana said each pilgrim had to go with Ebola certification to authenticate that the person was free of the disease before he or she would be allowed to enter an aircraft. (NAN)
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