The Federal Capital Territory Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board has debunked reports of alleged negligence and poor treatment of pilgrims participating in the 2024 Hajj exercise in Saudi Arabia.
The board, which described as false and baseless some posts on social media alleging the lack of proper treatment of Pilgrims by the FCT Administration, said such narratives were merely a figment of the imagination of the posters.
The Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for the 2024 Hajj exercise, Dr Abdullahi Isa Kaura Mata, who dismissed the accusations, insisted that the FCT had made adequate preparations for its contingents, by booking some of the best hotels and other accommodations both in Makkah and Madina.
He explained that the Committee had not only considered the quality of food and accommodations it got for the pilgrims but also considered their proximity to the Haram to enable the pilgrims to carry out their five daily prayers in the ground Mosque in both Medinah and Makkah.
While knocking off some of the posts, the committee chairman pointed out that the FCT Administration takes the safety and well-being of the pilgrims very seriously and therefore set up a sub-committee to monitor and inspect the kitchens and facilities of the food vendors it had hired to provide daily food to pilgrims.
Recall that our correspondent in Makkah had reported that the Board had set up a high-power feeding committee to monitor and inspect kitchens and other services of the vendors, to ensure they strictly adhere to the contractual agreement between them and the FCT Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board.
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He said the feeding committee of the 2024 Hajj was not relenting on its responsibilities, as he assured the pilgrims that the FCTA will continue to ensure that the right things are done to ensure that pilgrims are comfortable throughout their stay.
“The Director of the FCT Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board, Abubakar Evuti, and the feeding committee are constantly meeting with the management of the contracting company to properly monitor the services so we can protect the interest of the FCT contingents in the Holy Land.
“The team has been to these kitchens to see things for themselves and ensure that everything is done according to the menu that was given to the caterers and the director even expressed satisfaction with the quality of the services being provided. So, I don’t know where this narrative of poor feeding or dirty accommodation is coming from. I urge you all to disregard the accusations as they are not true. They are baseless and only aimed at distracting the pilgrims from their primary reason for being here in the holy land.”
Kaura-mata, who said he was not disturbed by those posts on social media, charged pilgrims not to allow the falsehood to distract them from the essence of performing hajj.
He urged them to continue to pray for Nigeria while remaining good ambassadors of their country and indeed the FCT.
One of the pilgrims who spoke on the development, Mr. Umar Shu’aibu distanced himself from such social media posts, noting that he is in the Holy Land to seek Allah’s forgiveness and blessings not to be posting the kind of food he’s eating.
While frowning at such an attitude by some Pilgrims, Mr. Shu’aibu who was the immediate past Coordinator of Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, AMMC, urged the pilgrims to devote most of their time in worshipping and praying.
According to him, “you see one thing with us as human beings, we are only good in criticism where we feel they got it wrong but where they got it right, you hardly see them commending the Management which is a pure mischief by some of us.”
Shu’aibu called on the FCT contingents to be good ambassador of Nigeria by saying positive things of their country or states rather than engaging or seeking for relevance on the social media all the time.
