Saudi denies entry to some 1,000 Nigerian women for Hajj
NIGERIA: Saudi Arabia has denied entry to some 1,000 Nigerian
woman seeking to visit for Hajj because they were not accompanied by
men, with most stuck at the Jeddah airport, Nigerian officials said
Wednesday.
The women, who began arriving Sunday at the airport in Jeddah, in
western Saudi Arabia, were facing possible deportations by Saudi
authorities, said a report compiled by the National Hajj Commission of
Nigeria, which oversees Nigerian participation in the Islamic pilgrimage
to Mecca.
“Upon enquiries by the reception team officials of the National Hajj
Commission in the airport, they were told that the pilgrims were held
back because of lack of mahram (lawful male accompanying pilgrim),” said
the report, which was submitted to the Nigerian House of Representatives
Committee on Foreign Affairs.
About 171 of the women returned home to Nigeria on a flight
Wednesday, an official said.
“These women were not deported. They were returned based on the
decision by the National Hajj Commission because the embarrassment from
the Saudi authorities was becoming unbearable,” commission spokesman
Umar Bala told AFP. AFP |