Re: Nigeria still has 76,000 slots for Hajj

“Nigeria’s consul-general in Jeddah, Ahmed Umar, decried the habit of arresting Nigerian pilgrims by Saudi authorities and taking them to prison without informing the consulate. He also expressed displeasure over denial of Nigerian officials the access to such pilgrims.”It is important to note that, His Excellency, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to […]

“Nigeria’s consul-general in Jeddah, Ahmed Umar, decried the habit of arresting Nigerian pilgrims by Saudi authorities and taking them to prison without informing the consulate. He also expressed displeasure over denial of Nigerian officials the access to such pilgrims.”
It is important to note that, His Excellency, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Federal Republic of Nigeria (in his quest to verify the authenticity of such statement); personally made a telephone contact with Ambassador Ahmed Umar, the consul-general of Nigerian consulate in Jeddah, but Ambassador Ahmed Umar denied uttering such statement.
The Embassy also wishes to inform you that such statement is completely in contradiction to a previous statement made by Ambassador Ahmed Umar, which was published in your esteemed newspaper on 21st November, 2013, under the title: “Hundreds of Nigerians detained in Saudi Arabia”, where he acknowledged that the Embassies were allowed to visit the detainees, and he also acknowledged that the detainees were treated with respect and decorum. The text is as follows:-
“But the Nigerian consul general in Jeddah, Ambassador Ahmed Umar, in a telephone interview with Daily Trust yesterday, said it was not true that no Nigerian official visited the detainees. He said that since the crackdown started, seven staff of the consulate have been deployed to the centre for the identification and documentation of the Nigerian detainees and to also ensure that they are kept in comfortable condition. ‘It is not true that no consulate officials were around to attend to the detainees…”
The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia hereby wishes to request from your esteemed newspaper to correct the 1 and 2 statements (indicated above), that were published in your newspapers, and to always verify the authenticity of the news you publish in your esteemed newspaper.

Fouad Abdul-Aziz Rajeh, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Nigeria