As the scarcity of the JetA1fuel hits airlines across the country, the Kwara state Pilgrims board has urged the federal government to give top priority to allocation of the fuel to airlines designated to airlift Pilgrims back to Nigeria after the successful Hajj.
This is as Max Air which conveyed the second batch of 560 pilgrims from Kwara State that performed this year’s pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia successfully arrived the Ilorin International Airport at about 3.21 am on Friday.
Truthlive.net recalls that the first batch of 533 pilgrims returned to Nigeria about three weeks ago.
Thus far, 1,093 pilgrims from the state have so far returned home from the holy land.
According to the Chairman, Kwara State Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board, Dr Abdulkadir Sambaki, the rest of the pilgrims from the state, who were still in Saudi Arabia, were in good health condition adding that the remaining 368 pilgrims had been scheduled to be airlifted back home between July 31 and 1st August, 2022.
Similarly, two of the pilgrims who were part of the latest arrivals, Alhaji Mustapha Ibrahim and Alhaja Rukayat Yusuf, appreciated God for the safe trip and prayed God to grant the remaining pilgrims safe trip back home.
In the same vein, Kwara State 2022 Amirul Hajj to Saudi Arabia, Dr Awa Ibraheem, begged the Federal Government to prioritise allocation of aviation fuel to the airlines involved in the airlifting of pilgrims, particularly those from Kwara State.
Ibraheem made the plea in a telephone interview from Saudi Arabia.
He said, “such immediate intervention of the government will ensure that Nigerian pilgrims are not stranded in Saudi Arabia after they have completed their Hajj rites.”
The Amirul Hajj expressed worry over the delay in the airlift of pilgrims back home at the initial scheduled time adding that most of them have exhausted their funds.
“The aviation fuel situation in Nigeria has been causing flights disruption. We hope and pray that the situation will soon be defeated,” Ibraheem added”.
Meanwhile, the umbrella body for domestic airlines in the country, Airline Operators of Nigeria had informed air transport passengers that the sector had been hit by a major crisis, an acute scarcity of aviation fuel which has caused intermittent flight delays and cancellations.