Lagos, Nigeria — The airlift of Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for this year's hajj from the southern zone was concluded last weekend by Med-View Airline, seven days ahead of schedule. And the return journey for the 13,163 pilgrims airlifted to the holy land by the airline is expected to begin December 1.
Med-View said in a statement in Lagos that the operation was concluded successfully at the three departure points/airports allocated to the airline by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
The airline operated at Murtala Mohammed Airport Lagos, for the Lagos zone, with pilgrims from Ogun, Lagos, Oyo, Osun and Edo States and members of the armed forces. Ilorin International Airport was used for Ilorin zone to airlift pilgrims from Kwara, Ondo and Ekiti states. And for the first time in recent years, pilgrims were airlifted to Saudi Arabia from Port Harcourt international Airport, which served pilgrims from South-South and South-East regions.
Speaking in Lagos at the end of the operation, Med-View Airline Managing Director, Alhaji Muneer Bankole thanked the pilgrims for their orderly conduct and cooperation which he said contributed to the success of the operation.
He equally commended the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria and the respective state pilgrims' welfare boards for organising a hitch free exercise and promised that the airline would make the return journey beginning December 1 also hitch-free.
Bankole explained the successful operation would not have been without the support of the leader of the Nigerian pilgrims, the Amirul Hajj, Senator Kanti Bello.
No fewer than 85,000 Nigerian pilgrims are in Saudi Arabia for the 2009 hajj.