Three thousand pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia yesterday for the 2016 hajj, it was learnt.
Executive Chairman Alhaji Abdullahi Mohammed spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
He said the pilgrims, who were transported through Sokoto, Lagos and Abuja international airports, were from Zamfara, Osun, Oyo, Kwara and Kogi states.
“We have over 3,000 pilgrims in the holy land; they are in Medina and observing their pilgrimage rites under the guidance of our officials and medical team.
“We hope before the next 24 hours, four more flights will land in Saudi,” Mohammed said. He said arrangements have been made to ensure quick response to emergencies, adding that identification of pilgrims have also been made easy in case of stampede.
“Because of that, we decided to introduce an electronic wristband that will contain personal and medical data of each pilgrim.
“The wristband has a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) device, SOS button alert and a wristwatch, which will be given to each pilgrim at N8,400,” Mohammed said.
He hinted that the DNA sample of each pilgrim was also collected to aid identification in case of emergency.
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