The first batch of 540 intending Pilgrims from Kwara state have been airlifted to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from llorin International Airport.
The pilgrims departed the airport on board Max Airline aircraft at about 5.40 a.m early Sunday morning .
The departure was witnessed by Dr Awwal lbrahim, the Year 2022 Kwara Amirul Hajj and Executive Secretary of the state Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board as well as other government functionaries.
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Addressing newsmen shortly before the departure,the Year 2022 Kwara Amirul Hajj , Dr, Awwal Ibrahim urged the intending pilgrims to be good ambassadors of the state and the country while in the holy land.
He appealed to the intending pilgrims to pray for the restoration of peace in the state and the country at large while performing the pilgrimage.
In his remark ,the Executive Secretary of Kwara state Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board , Abdulganiyu Ahmed said the successful takeoff of the inaugural flight
was due to the extra efforts by the state government.
He attributed the delay in the transportation of pilgrims to the late outcome of PCR test results, noting it is compulsory for every intending pilgrims to go for the test 72 hours before the journey.
One of the intending pilgrims, Mr Yemi Lawal_Rabana, in an interview with journalists expressed satisfaction with the arrangement put in place by the board.
In her comment a first term intending pilgrim , Mosurat Yusuf, commended the board for making the airlifting process easy ,despite some challenges .
A total of 1,500 intending Pilgrims are expected to perform year 2022 Hajj fro Kwara state.
