Hajj: Katsina pilgrims stage peaceful demonstration
From Musa A. Tijjani, Jiddah

Katsina state pilgrims yesterday staged a peaceful demonstration at their residence in Makkah to protest their “delayed airlift” back into the country.
The pilgrims, numbering over five hundred, complained they were unnecessarily kept and left to their fate at the Holyland several days after the expiration of the Hajj exercise.
The pilgrims, who staged the demonstration minutes after a visit to their residence by the Amirul Hajj and the leader of the federal government delegation, Sultan Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, expressed their displeasure over how their officials kept offering them empty promises.
One of the aggrieved pilgrims, Alhaji Badamasi Bindawa, noted that most of them have made their fnal spendings and were awaiting return back home, “but the officials are not ready to come to our aid.”
Also speaking, Alhaji Muhammadu Mai’adua said “after we were asked to perform our last Tawaf (circumambulation), the officials kept telling us there is no flight to take us home.’’
However, in a swift move to rescue the pilgrims, the Amirul Hajj and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, urged the pilgims to exercise more patience as all hands are on deck towards airlifting them back home.
The Sultan, who also visited Kaduna, Bauchi, Yobe, Lagos and Kano state residences, later warned the Nigerian pilgrims to avoid unnecessary spending while in the Holyland, assuring that as soon as “the problems of bad weather and lack of aviation fuel back in Nigeria are addressed,” they will all be airlifted home.
Also speaking, Malam Muhammadu Musa Bello, chairman of the Presidential Committee on Hajj (PCH), pleaded with the pilgrims to remain calm as the PCH is working tirelessly to ensure their airlift back into the country.
As at the time of going to press, the PCH chairman had met with the officials of Mangal Airlines while buses were lined up to transport some of the aggrieved pilgrims to the Jeddah Airport for onward airlift to Nigeria.