Abuja, Nigeria - The Saudi Arabian authority has expressed anger over the continous stay of about 27,000 Nigerians in the holy land, threatening that unless they are repatriated, the country's slot for next Hajj may be downsized.
Confirming the threat to newsmen yesterday in Abuja, the minister of state for foreign affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Tanko, said the Saudi minister of Hajj has written him a strongly worded letter threatening that if the federal government fails to take action, it may risk its chances in the next Hajj exercise.
However, the minister said he has since replied the letter, informing the Saudi authority that Nigerian government was not to be blamed as there are people going on Umrah (lesser Hajj) independently without the consent of the government.
'I have received a letter from my colleague, the minister of Hajj in Saudi Arabia, intimating me of the fact that there are about 27,000 Nigerians in the holy land. And of course, threatening me that if we don't do anything about it, they were going to subtract it from our allocated seats. And I wrote him that if there are 27,000 Nigerians in Saudi Arabia and we could not bring them back, the Saudi Arabia could as well help bring them back," the minister said.
Tanko said the two countries are affected by the negative development, adding that there are four operators and their agents which makes it difficult to track down the entire ring.
"I want to tell you that Nigeria is the only country that get this people repatriated free of charge. Nigeria and Saudi Arabia are doing all things possible to ensure that all the 27,000 people overstaying are brought back home. Right now, we are working on it because some have already been repatriated," he added.
On the Christian pilgrimage, the minister regretted the recurring cases of abscondment, saying the problem has been reduced as there were only six Nigerians that absconded in Jerusalem in the last Christian pilgrim exercise.