A brother of the former chairman of the
Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, Justice
Abdulkadir Jega; another Justice of the Ilorin Division of the Court of
Appeal, Justice Musa Hassan Alkali; the Emir of Zing and Ameerul-hajj of
Taraba State to 2015’s hajj exercise, Abbas Ibrahim and two of his
wives have been identified as being among those that died in Thursday’s
stampede in Saudi Arabia, We ha learnt
Abdulkadir Jega was a judge of the Court of Appeal and also a brother to the Editor-In-Chief of Daily Trust Newspaper, Mahmud Jega.
A family source told one of our
correspondents that the body of the judge, who was a member of the Kebbi
State Government delegation to the 2015 Hajj, was found in a mortuary
in Mina, Saudi Arabia.
This is as the death toll from the stampede has risen to 769.
The Emir’s death was confirmed to
journalists by the Chairman of the state Pilgrims Board, Hamman Tukur,
who added that some pilgrims from the state were still missing.
It was reliably gathered on Saturday
that about 100 Nigerians might have died in the stampede that occurred
when pilgrims were going to perform the symbolic stoning of the devil in
Mina, Saudi Arabia.
An official of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, who confided in us,
said more Nigerian victims were discovered when the commission’s
officials joined their colleagues from other countries’ in Mina morgue
to identify their nationalities.
The Nigerian hajj officials are still compiling the list of Nigerians affected.
Other prominent Nigerians, who have been
confirmed to have died in the stampede, included the Deputy Secretary
General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs Professor
Tijjani Abubakar El-Miskin and a veteran female journalist, Bilkisu
Yusuf.
Meanwhile, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria has begun a census of the country’s pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.
we learnt
that the commission started the census on Saturday following reports
that some Nigerians pilgrims were still missing.
The commission had on Thursday sent its
medical team to hospitals in Saudi Arabia to ascertain the number of the
dead and the injured.
It was gathered that the commission embarked on the head count when it could not account for some pilgrims.
Findings showed that the NHCN was
conducting the census state by state and that the figure of the dead and
the injured would be released officially on or before Monday.
An official of the commission, who
said, “You will recall that on Thursday, our medical team went round
hospitals. We are still collating the figures, but some pilgrims are
still missing.”
The News Agency of Nigeria reported on Saturday that five pilgrims from Gombe State had been declared missing.
This is as the Sokoto State Government announced that nine pilgrims from the state were among those who died in the stampede.
In a statement in Sokoto on Saturday,
the government said that its officials, led by the Amirul Hajj and
leader of its delegation, the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmad Aliyu, who
was still in Saudi Arabia, confirmed the tragedy.
The Executive Secretary, Gombe State
Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Usman Gurama, in an interview with
journalists in Mina, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday said the board had not
located the pilgrims since Thursday.
Gurama, however, said that seven
pilgrims from the state were injured at the scene of the incident and
were responding to treatment.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Saturday expressed sorrow over the incident.
Atiku said this in a statement by his
Media Office in Abuja. The former Vice President described the incident
as one of the saddest accidents to have befallen Muslims in recent
times.
The
state quoted him as saying “we are bound by our common humanity.” It
also quoted Atiku as saying that “we learn lessons from these tragic
incidents, and take precautionary measures to ward off future
disasters.”
Also, the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad
Abubakar III, on Saturday in Sokoto, urged Saudi authorities to
henceforth provide improved safety measures during the annual pilgrimage
to Mecca.
The Sultan spoke on the sidelines of the
presentation of the report of a technical committee set up by him to
look into the state of the education sector in Sokoto State.
“The tragedy affected several countries of the world, Nigeria in general and Sokoto state in particular.
“Some local governments in Sokoto state
like Illela, Binji, Gwadabawa and others were affected by the tragedy,
although the actual casualty figures are still being ascertained by
Saudi Arabian and Nigerian authorities,” he said.
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