‘Why we collected N3, 000 from pilgrims’

Kaduna State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board (KSMPWB) yesterday gave reasons for collecting N3, 000 from intending pilgrims in the state.

The board said the amount was to take care of administrative costs of producing electronic identity cards, photocopies of pilgrims’ passport photographs and other essentials. In a press briefing yesterday, the board’s Public Relations Officer, Alhaji Yunusa Muhammad Abdullahi said the allegation that “our pilgrims’ officers collected money without issuing receipts is unfounded.”

The board, which was reacting to an allegation by a group known as the ‘Independent Hajj Reporters,’ that pilgrims were being charged N3, 000 without being given receipts, said that all payments made to the board are being acknowledged.

Yunusa further said that “any pilgrim without authorised receipt is not our pilgrim.” Giving a breakdown of the money collected, the board said “all intending pilgrims are asked to provide 25 passport photographs as part of their visa requirements.”

He said N1, 500 was collected for the passport and because Saudi authorities prefer soft copies of those passports, we decided to train our staff specifically for that purpose.

“Last year, we discovered that we faced difficulties in printing passports and since the Saudi authorities prefer soft copies of such passports for visa processing, we decided to do so to meet their requirements.”