A total of 311 pilgrims from Ondo and Ekiti States have safely returned to Nigeria after successfully completing the 2025 Hajj rites.
The pilgrims arrived at the Babatunde Idiagbon International Airport, Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, aboard an Air Peace flight which touched down at exactly 2:00 a.m. on Monday.
Second Batch
Meanwhile, another flight carrying 548 pilgrims from Kwara State is expected to arrive at the same airport this evening. The returnees, constituting the second batch of the airlift, will be conveyed via Max Air.
The first batch had earlier arrived on Saturday, last week, with five hundred and fifty eight pilgrims.
In a telephone interview with Voice of Nigeria VON, the Chairman, Kwara State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Ilorin, Professor Mahmud Jimba said that “the flight is expected to land between six and seven o’clock Nigerian time all things been equal by Max Airline Flight.”
Professor Jimba also assured that if the schedule of the third batch is strictly followed , they would arrive Ilorin on Wednesday while the last batch for the 2025 hajj is expected on Friday, this week. The batch will be the end of flight for this year’s pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia from the state for those that traveled through the board.
According to him, “the board did not experience any major challenge during the exercise except minor health issues which were adequately taken care of by the medical personnel.”
Mercy Chukwudiebere