Hajj: Tour operators decry poor service delivery at Mina, Arafat

Tour Operators under the aegis of Association of Hajj and Umrah Operators of Nigeria (AHUON) have decried poor services rendered to their pilgrims during their stay in Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifa to perform their rites of Hajj. Chairman of AHUON for the Southwest, Qasim Alabi said it was unfortunate that the services paid for were […]

Tour Operators under the aegis of Association of Hajj and Umrah Operators of Nigeria (AHUON) have decried poor services rendered to their pilgrims during their stay in Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifa to perform their rites of Hajj.

Chairman of AHUON for the Southwest, Qasim Alabi said it was unfortunate that the services paid for were not provided in those places.

He spoke against the backdrop of the raging controversy over the treatment of pilgrims belonging to tour operators in the course of the just concluded Hajj rites.

Sources told our correspondent that there were challenges in Mina and Arafat with accommodation and feeding for international pilgrims prompting the Civil Society Group, Independent Hajj Reporters to call for investigation of the issue.

The Hajj Reporters equally called on the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to sanction tour operators that allegedly failed to render services to their pilgrims in the holy land.

It was learnt that many tour operators’ pilgrims including those from Lagos State could not be accommodated in Mina but at Muzdalifa where tour operators complained of poor service delivery by the service providers.

Most of the tents were equally not provided with mattresses even as pilgrims reportedly grumbled with  the food given to them.

However, AHUON Chairman who spoke with newsmen from Makkah said the tour operators were not to blame for the problems experienced in Mina and Arafat, saying the service providers who were contracted through NAHCON and not the tour operators were fully in charge of accommodation and feeding in Mina and Arafat.

He said anyone laying the blame on tour operators was merely demonstrating ignorance on the mode of operations in Mina and Arafat.

Alabi who is the MD/CEO of Habdat Xpress also decried shoddy transportation arrangement by the service providers, noting that on the day the pilgrims were to move from Makkah to Mina, the buses were not available for his group.

He said, "The fact is that we are not the one responsible for the provision of tents at Mina or Muzdalifa. It is the sole responsibility of the Muasasa (service providers). For instance, we paid all the money through the National Hajj Commission to the Muasasa. Unfortunately we did not receive the services they promised us.

"For example we got to Mina and there was no accommodation for majority of the tour operators. For example my own company we had to stay on the road overnight till next day. In fact the day we were supposed to leave Makkah for Mina, they told us to get set at 4:30 a.m in the morning and we have told all our pilgrims to actually go downstairs. They were there till Zhur (afternoon) and there was no bus whatsoever to convey us and there was no communication. They kept on saying they were coming until we went on our own."

On the claim that most tour operators did not provide full details of their pilgrims to the service providers, he said this is not the case even as he noted that the authorities already have record of pilgrims who were issued visas.

 

Meanwhile, NAHCON has commended the Lagos State Government for its support to the pilgrims, saying no state can ever surpass Lagos in terms of provision and arrangement for pilgrims.

The commendation was given during a visit by NAHCON officials led by Alhaji Abdullahi Saleh, Commissioner for Operation to Lagos Tents in Mina, according to a statement by the spokesman of Lagos Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Jamiu Dosumu.

Saleh congratulated the Akinwunmi Ambode led government and the Board for provision of standard facilities during the hajj exercise, urging pilgrims to pray for the leadership of the Board. 

Commissioner for Home Affairs and Amir-ul-Hajj, Dr. Abdul-Hakeem Abdullateef also commended the giant strides of NAHCON in coordinating the Hajj affairs.

Meanwhile, Lagos pilgrims have arrived Makkah at the time of filing this report after completing Hajj rites at Mina from where they were proceeding to Jamarat to perform the stoning rites for three days.