The Federal Capital Territory Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board has debunked reports of alleged negligence and poor treatment of pilgrims in the Holy Land.
The board, which described as false and baseless, some post on the social media alleging the lack of proper treatment of Pilgrims by the FCT Administration, said such narrative were merely a figment of imagination of the posters.
The Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for the 2024 Hajj exercise, Dr Abdullahi Isa Kaura Mata, who dismissed the accusations, insisted that the FCT had made adequate preparations for its contingents, by booking some of the best hotels and other accommodations both in Makkah and Medina.
He explained that the Committee had not only considered the quality of foods and accommodations it got for the pilgrims, but also considered their proximity to the Haram so as to enable the pilgrims carryout their five daily prayers in the ground Mosque in both Medinah and Makkah.
While knocking off some of the posts, the committee chairman pointed that the FCT Administration takes the safety and well-being of the pilgrims very seriously and therefore set up a sub committee to monitor and inspect the kitchens and facilities of the food vendors it had hired to provide daily food to pilgrims.
Recall that our correspondent in Makkah had reported that the Board had setup a high power Feeding committee to monitor and inspect kitchens and other services of the vendors, so as to ensure they strictly adhere to the contractual agreement between them and the FCT Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board.
He said the feeding committee of 2024 Hajj was not relenting on its responsibilities, as he assured the pilgrims that the FCTA will continue to ensure that the right things are done to ensure that pilgrims are comfortable throughout their stay.
“The Director of the FCT Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board, Abubakar Evuti and the feeding committee are constantly meeting with the management of the contracting company so as to properly monitor the services so we can protect the interest of the FCT contingents in the Holy Land.
“The team has been to these kitchens to see things for themselves and ensure that everything is done according to the menu that was given to the caterers and the director even expressed satisfaction with the quality of the services being provided. So I don’t know where this narrative of poor feeding of dirty accommodation is coming from. I urge you all to disregard the accusations as they are not true. The are baseless and only aimed at distracting the pilgrims from their primary reason of being here at the holy land.
Kaura-mata, who said he was not disturbed by those post on the social media, charged pilgrims not to allow the falsehood distract them from the essence of performing hajj.
He urged them to continue to pray for Nigeria, while remaining good ambassadors of their country and indeed the FCT.
One of the pilgrims who spoke on the development and a politician, Mr Umar Shaiubu distance himself from such social media post, noting that he is in the Holy Land to seek for Allah forgiveness and blessings not to be posting the kind of food he’s eating here in the Holy Land.
While frowning at such attitude by some Pilgrims, Mr Shaiubu who was the immediate past Coordinator, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, AMMC, urged the pilgrims to devote most of their time in worshipping praying instead of romancing the social media always while in the Holy Land.
According to him, ” you see one thing with us as human being, we are only good in criticism where we feel they got it wrong but where they got it right, you hardly see them commending the Management which is a pure mischief by some of us”.
” If you compare what they are giving us to other places or state, it’s then you will notice that we are enjoying. But I will not totally blame the pilgrims, you know FCT is a big men place with people from different social economy background and some are in high authority of government, they will want to be treated as such. If pilgrims from other states are getting this kind of treatment FCT is getting they will be grateful “,
Shaiubu called on the FCT contingents to be good ambassador of Nigeria by saying positive things of their country or states than be engaging or seeking for relevant in the social media all the time.
