The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria says 18,906 pilgrims have been airlifted to Saudi Arabia for the 2024/1445 Holy Pilgrimage despite the country’s economic hardship.
NAHCON disclosed this in its official X handle on Saturday.
“Today (Saturday), Air Peace flight APK7920 departed from Lagos to Madinah at 11:45hrs, carrying 298 pilgrims from Edo State. The group consists of 162 males and 136 females.
“This flight marks a significant milestone in the ongoing pilgrimage airlift operations. To date, a total of 18,906 pilgrims have been transported across 45 flights,” it wrote.
According to NAHCON, programmes paid between N8.2 million and N8.4 million for the 2024 hajj.
Vice President Kasim Shettima confirmed that the federal government paid N90 billion in subsidies for 2024 hajj.
Meanwhile, following the economic hardship in Nigeria, the government came under fire for spending N90 billion on hajj.
In April, Nigeria’s headline and food inflation surged to 33.69 per cent and 40.53 per cent, respectively. This has impacted the cost of living in the country, as many Nigerians struggle to feed themselves.
The National Bureau of Statistics multidimensional poverty index released in November 2022 said 41.01 per cent of Nigerians are poor.