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How Lagos Pilgrims Welfare Board Exploits Hajj Pilgrims, Hiked Cost Of Travel To Meet Bribe Demands By Board–Sources

FILE
June 4, 2023

SaharaReporters in July 2022 reported that some Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia accused top officials of the Lagos State Government of forcing them to pay a higher amount for animal sacrifices called Hadaya.

The Lagos State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board and some top government officials have continued to extort Hajj pilgrims despite the Lagos State House of Assembly’s reported investigation into the N46 million the board allegedly stole from 2022 Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, SaharaReporters can report.

 

SaharaReporters in July 2022 reported that some Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia accused top officials of the Lagos State Government of forcing them to pay a higher amount for animal sacrifices called Hadaya.

 

The pilgrims were expected to pay for animal sacrifice, however, 555 Saudi Riyals were collected from each of the 1,672 pilgrims for rams but the board employed the service of a Saudi Arabia collaborator who was given 300 Saudi Riyals, leaving a sum of N46 million that was shared.

 

The incident was exposed by SaharaReporters based on complaints by disgruntled pilgrims, leading to near protests and a subsequent press conference by the state Commissioner for Home Affairs, Anofiu Elegushi.

 

In August 2022, SaharaReporters reported that the Lagos State House of Assembly had begun an investigation into the N46 million the State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board allegedly stole from the 2022 Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.

 

However, a source on Sunday told SaharaReporters that “following the failure of EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) to effectively act on all the complaints against board members of the agency, the Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and Commissioner for Home Affairs in the first term of the Governor, the board further exploited Umrah pilgrims earlier this year.”

 

Sources, however, said the controversy and corruption allegations as earlier exposed by SaharaReporters resulted in the removal of the board’s former immediate past Executive Secretary, Imam Abdulhakeem Kosoko.

One of the sources said Kosoko was “accused by those at the centre of the corrupt practices of spilling the beans, but those fingered in the activities got dragged to EFCC, but as the special adviser and commissioner boasted to those close to them, officers of the commission have been settled.”

 

One of the sources said, “It is difficult to dispute the EFCC bribery claims against those officers considering the turn of events.

“The company whose services were procured to divert some of the funds, The Crescent, was sufficiently fingered in some of the untoward practices and even failed to pay due taxes to the state government. It was contracted again for the last Umrah services.

 

“The two companies used for Umrah, Libragold and Crescent, were selected without considerations for laid down procurement procedures. According to one of the welfare board's staff, Libragold had to charge the pilgrims an extra N150,000 per person to meet the bribe demands of the board members.

 

“The commissioner is set to settle himself; he has orchestrated a plan to shortchange pilgrims by reducing their PTAs (Personal Travel Allowances) by N100 and paying N700 instead of entitled N800 under the guise of supporting Sudanese returnees with the differentials.”