From Muhammad Ibrahim, Madinah
Taraba state pilgrims have accused their states Pilgrims’ Board of abandoning them in Madinah few days after they arrived the city from Nigeria in preparation for 2014 Hajj exercise.
The pilgrims, who were transported by buses from Prince Mohammed Abdul’Azeez International Airport in Madinah, said they were accommodated at Dar Al jiffery Hotel and Al Bilad building on Wednesday, last week.
According to them, throughout their stay in the city none of their official visited them at their hotels for days.
One of the aggrieved pilgrims, who didn`t want his name mentioned, expressed disappointment with the way they were abandoned by the officials.
“Since our arrival to that city we have not seen our officials to either come to receive us or to tell us what is expected of us in the holy land as other states officials did to their pilgrims. This is the reason we believed we were abandoned, especially as none of them visited our hotels,” he said.
It was gathered that some of the pilgrims had to join other pilgrims from Kaduna, who shared same hotel with them, to visit the places recommended for pilgrims while some used private taxis, all without proper guide by officials.
Places visited by pilgrims in Madinah include the Prophet`s Mosque, Baqee cemetery, Mount Uhud among others.
Effort to reach the Taraba officials failed, as none was seen in Madinah.
In another development, Kaduna state last flights arrived King Abdul`azeez International Airport in Jeddah on Monday, with about 60 pilgrims, including officials on board.
They were transported to Makkah in buses to perform the lesser Hajj, Umrah, in preparation for Arafat Day.
It could be recalled that Kaduna state registered a total of 5,672 pilgrims to perform this year`s Hajj.
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