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Nigerian Pilgrims Stranded In Saudi Arabia, Cries Out For Help
Some Nigerian pilgrims from Katsina State on Friday accused the State Board of abandoning them in Mina, Saudi Arabia without providing them with accommodation.
In a video seen, the pilgrims were seen in their large numbers sleeping on the floor under a canopy in their religious wear.
One of them who identified himself as Usman Bello Daura lamented that the state authorities had failed to provide them with top-notch welfare packages despite paying over N8million for the ongoing hajj exercise.
He said: “Here are my colleague and this is our condition. This is where we are sleeping. We are facing very critical situation of accommodation and I am afraid because of a day like tomorrow (the day of Arafat) because this is the day everyone needs to do well as it is the most significant day of Hajj.
“We don’t want this kind of thing to happen tomorrow, which is the day of Arafat, because our leader didn’t do justice to us in terms of our welfare and accomodations.
“We have found ourselves in a situation that all of us are not happy about and we hope we get out of this situation before tomorrow (Arafat day).”
Another pilgrim mentioned that the situation was different from those from Borno state. He said pilgrims from Borno were well catered to by their authorities.
The pilgrim said, “I have seen the difference between pilgrims from Maiduguri and Katsina state because Maiduguri is where my father comes through and his accommodation and any other things are intact. But here the pilgrims from Katsina are abandoned and I try to find our representatives here in Saudi Arabia to complain to but I couldn’t find any of them.”
He continued: “Today they brought us to Mina and the authorities from Katsina state have been going up and down with us without providing us with proper places of accommodation.
“Please and I am pleading whosoever is responsible for our welfare in this holy land should please come out to hear us out.”
The pilgrims therefore demanded for the immediate intervention of the state government on their situation.
One of them said, “I want to draw attention of Mr governor to this critical issue we are facing here, I want to advise him to be careful in the kind of people he entrust with the responsibility of pilgrimage going forward. We are not happy here, we don’t have accommodation and we are left abandoned.”
Ibom Focus on Thursday reported how Nigeria lost two more pilgrims from Kwara State currently participating in the ongoing Hajj.
This was announced by the Kwara State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, identifying the deceased as Salman Muhammad Alade and Ayishat Shuaib Ologele died after suffering brief illnesses.
Abdulsalam Abdulkadir, Executive Secretary of the Kwara State Pilgrims Welfare Board, extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased and asked Allah to comfort and pardon them.
Abdulkadir had previously declared Hajia Hawawu Muhammad’s death as “an unfortunate suicidal episode from the rooftop of her apartment in Madina.” He also said that the other pilgrim who died in Madina, Saliu Mohammed, died in an intensive care unit of a public hospital after unexpectedly falling ill.
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The Federal Government has allocated a total of N6,364,181,224 billion for the renovation and rehabilitation of the residential quarters of President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and some of their aides in the 2025 budget proposal.
Sunday PUNCH’s analysis of the proposed allocation, contained in the 2025 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly, showed that the annual maintenance of the Presidential Villa would gulp N5.49bn.
According to the proposed budget, N765m will be used for the renovation of the Vice President’s quarters and guest house.
The renovation of the president’s quarters at the State House will cost N6.39m, while the renovation of security quarters, auditorium, gymnasium and presidential aides’ quarters will cost N49m.
In addition, the renovation of Prescott barracks at Maple State House officers’ mess building and signal office in Asokoro, Abuja will cost N51m.
Further analysis of the budget revealed that Tinubu and his vice are also expected to have N87m as honorarium and sitting allowances, while N127m was allocated for the procurement of SUVs.
Also, N3.66bn was budgeted for the purchase of State House operational vehicles and N1,09bn will be spent on replacement of SUV vehicles at the State House.
Under the budget of the State House Lagos Liaison Office, there is an allocation of N14.72m for the routine maintenance of State House Lagos facilities (Dodan Barracks, Vice President guest houses at Ikoyi, among others).
Another N140.10m was allocated for the completion of renovation and furnishing of the State House annex (Dodan Barracks), Lagos.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government is planning to spend N1.83bn on converting forfeited properties from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission into State House quarters.
The plan to convert forfeited houses from the EFCC comes in the same month that the commission disclosed the recovery of an estate in the Lokogoma District of Abuja, measuring 150,500 square metres and containing 753 units of duplexes and other apartments.
The commission described this as its “single largest asset recovery” since its inception in 2003.
The estate rests on Plot 109 Cadastral Zone C09 of the district, and was forfeited in a ruling on Monday, December 2, 2024, by Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie.
(Punch)
WHEN we look at this month, USD was traded at ₦ at the beginning of this December on Monday, December 2, 2024. As at today with USD being traded at ₦1,655 we see a % for United States Dollar to Naira exchange rate for this month.
On this page, we are primarily focusing on the Black Market Dollar To Naira Exchange Rate Today, the USD to Naira currency pair are the most traded currency in the FX market.
Black Market Exchange Rates
Buying Rate
Selling Rate
Dollar to Naira 1655 1640
Pounds to Naira 2150 2000
Euro to Naira 1730 1700
Canadian Dollar to Naira 1146 1135
Rand to Naira 52 43
Dirham to Naira 0 0
Yuan to Naira 62 62
G.Cedi to Nair 70 50
CFA F. (XOF) To Naira 0.83 0.81
CFA F. (XAF) To Naira 0.74 0.74
READ ALSO: INSIDE LIFE: 26-Year-Old Lady Died In Bangladesh With No One To Claim Her Body, She Is A Nigerian From Enugu (SEE PHOTO)
Having full knowledge how much USD to NGN black market exchange rate today will give you a better opportunity to plan and make informed decisions.
Nairatoday.com
Passengers of a train plying the Warri-Itakpe route escaped death on Sunday as the train derailed at Okpara in the Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State.
It was gathered that the passengers were stranded following the incident that happened at about 10pm.
According to eyewitness accounts, some of the passengers got to their destinations on Monday morning.
“The incident happened at Okpara Station last night. They stole many people’s phones and other valuables when they slept at night,” a source said.
“It’s this morning that everybody began to find their way to their various destinations.”
The Nigerian Railway Corporation confirmed the incident in a statement by its spokesman, Yakub Mahmood on Monday.
Mahmood said the service will resume shortly, adding that a team of engineers is at the site of the incident to ensure the track is restored soon.
According to him, the train service will resume as scheduled on Monday afternoon.
The statement reads in part, “The management of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) hereby informs the general public, especially our valued passengers that ply the Warri-Itakpe route, that following the minor derailment yesterday at the Okpara station, the service will resume shortly as our team of engineers are at the site of the accident to ensure the track is restored anytime soon.
“However, Itakpe-Warri (Ujewu) train will resume as scheduled in the afternoon today.
“All inconveniences caused as a result of the minor derailment is highly regretted.”
Renovation: Tinubu, Shettima’s official quarters to gulp N6.36bn
SEE NAIRA Rates Against The USD, GBP, EURO Today December 23, 2024
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