Hajj: Last batch of Kwara pilgrims returns from Saudi Arabia

The final group of Kwara pilgrims who travelled to Saudi Arabia this year to complete the hajj arrived back in Ilorin, the state capital, early on Wednesday.

At 1.17 am, 328 pilgrims travelling on Max Air touched down at the Ilorin International Airport.

Along with all of the Kwara State Pilgrims Welfare Board officials, including the chairman, Dr. AbdulKadir Sambaki, the pilgrims arrived.

All of the joyful pilgrims were welcomed by their family members who had stayed up all night at the airport to greet the travellers returning from the holy land.

Alhaja Sherifat AbdulKareem of The Herald Newspapers and Alhaja Ramata Olesin of the Ministry of Education, Ilorin, two pilgrims who talked with reporters at the airport, thanked God for allowing them to complete their journey successfully.

They also expressed gratitude to the pilgrims' board representatives and the state government for looking out for them while they were in the holy land.

Sambaki also thanked God for ensuring the success of the hajj operation.

He commended AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the state governor, for his support of the board, which he claimed greatly contributed to ensuring a successful hajj operation from Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.

The chairman praised the pilgrims for serving as good representatives of the state and Nigeria in the holy land and expressed his happiness that no pilgrim from the state experienced anything untoward while in Saudi Arabia.

With the arrival of the final batch, all 1,421 pilgrims who made the holy journey this year from the state have reached the state safely.