Digital hajj operation a sure check against illegal pilgrims – NAHCON

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), says the introduction of digital hajj operation by the Saudi authorities has prevented illegal pilgrims from gaining access to hajj camps this year.

Its Executive Chairman, Malam Jalal Arabi, stated this during a Special National Prayer Session held at the plain of Arafat in Mina, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday.

Arabi said that the digital hajj was the best way to guard against infiltrators and would ensure the pilgrims got value for their money.

“In 2023 or 2022 hajj, you could see faces that were not eligible to be here who must have found their ways in.

“But with some of the technologies introduced, you can’t come in here unless you are a genuine pilgrim.

“What people tend to forget is that any illegible pilgrim that has found his way here is displacing an eligible pilgrim; in other words, all the pilgrims that are here paid their money for the services.

“The money they paid covers where they will sleep, the bus they will ride and the food they will eat. So, imagine people coming to displace such people.

“I like this innovation that was introduced that says you must have to have a card that gives you access; you have to carry your visa, which will be scanned before even getting to your accommodation.

“The bus is labelled in so many ways. With the improvement in the services in the tent, you will know that things are working according to plan; you are bound to have your space and enjoy without any hindrance. ”

On the significance of the national prayer, Arabi said that prayer had become part and parcel of any successful pilgrimage.

According to him, organising special national prayer for Nigeria has been the tradition of NAHCON which he met on ground.

“But this time around, because of the volume of those that have been invited to join the team of scholars, you could see that it has wider spread.

“We spent much more time than in the past. I think that is a good sign,” he said.