Muhammadu Buhari
- Niger State accountant-general confirmed dead
Iyobosa Uwugiaren, Tobi Soniyi in Abuja and Laleye Dipo in Minna
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and the Nigerian Embassy in Saudi Arabia to immediately account for all Nigerian pilgrims in the aftermath of last Thursday’s disaster in Mina.
A statement by the president’s media aide, Mr. Garba Shehu, said the presidential directive followed conflicting reports on the number of Nigerians who died or suffered injuries in the catastrophe, which claimed more than 700 lives.
Shehu said the president was very concerned that days after the unfortunate incident, some Nigerian families were still grappling with painful uncertainty over the fate of their relatives who travelled to Saudi Arabia for this year’s Hajj.
The president’s directive coincided with reports from Mina that the bodies of some Nigerian pilgrims killed in the stampede were still being kept in ambulances and had started to decompose because the medical facilities in Mina were overstretched.
So far, the commission has confirmed that 56 Nigerians lost their lives in the tragic incident in Mina, while 61 persons were injured.
An undetermined number of Nigerian pilgrims have also been declared missing.
An undetermined number of Nigerian pilgrims have also been declared missing.
The president said he expected NAHCON to work with the various state pilgrims’ boards, Islamic organisations and private travel agencies involved in Hajj operations to speedily provide a confirmed and verifiable report on the status of every Nigerian pilgrim in Saudi Arabia.
Buhari also directed the commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nigerian Embassy in Saudi Arabia to give all necessary assistance to Nigerians still receiving treatment for injuries suffered in Mina.
The president continued to pray that Almighty Allah would receive the souls of the dead, comfort bereaved families, heal the injured and bring all surviving Nigerian pilgrims safely home.
It also emerged yesterday that the Niger State Accountant-General, Alhaji Shehu Kontagora, was said to have been among those who died in the stampede.
A source close to the Government House in Minna, the Niger State capital, said the remains of the late Kontagora were found in one of the morgues in the holy land.
It was also suspected that the Deputy Amiru Hajj, Mr. Abubakar Isa, was among the deceased. Isa was a private legal practitioner at a law firm in Minna.
THISDAY gathered that the news of the death of the two indigenes of the state was received from Mecca on Sunday afternoon. It was also learnt that an unnamed member of staff of the Ministry of Finance in the state lost his life.
According to the source, when the incident occurred, no fewer than 10 pilgrims from the state were said to be missing, compelling the leadership of the pilgrims’ board to commence a search for them at the morgues in Mina and Mecca.
It was the search that reportedly unearthed the death of the state accountant general and the Deputy Amirul Hajj.
Upon confirming the demise of the accountant-general, fidau prayers (Muslim prayers offered for the repose of the departed) were held for him in Bida town yesterday with members of his family and friends in attendance.
Meanwhile, corpses of Nigerian pilgrims killed in the stampede were still being kept in ambulances yesterday because the medical facilities in Mina were overstretched.
A journalist with a foreign media organisation covering the hajj and the tragedy informed THISDAY that the corpses had started to decompose due to lack of sufficient morgues in Mina.
The journalist, who pleaded anonymity, said the Nigerian medical personnel who accompanied the pilgrims to the holy land were facing a herculean task trying to address the “unfortunate incident” in collaboration Saudi Arabian authorities.
“Officials of the National Hajj Commission are trying to identify all the victims of the stampede. In the process, they are taking the fingerprints of the bodies.
“But unfortunately, some of the corpses are already decomposing because some bodies have been in the ambulances since Thursday,” he informed THISDAY from Saudi Arabia.
“We were told that the medical facilities in Mina are overloaded with corpses. But the Nigerian medical personnel are working very hard with the Saudi Arabia authorities to fix the unfortunate incident,” he said.
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