Sokoto pilgrim arrested with N2m worth of recharge cards, $3200

A pilgrim on the Hajj from Sokoto state has been arrested with about N2m worth of recharge cards, another $3,200 and N1m on arrival at Madina, Saudi Arabia. The recharge cards were for different Nigerian networks which is against the law of the Kingdom. The pilgrim (name withheld) was said to have been on the […]

A pilgrim on the Hajj from Sokoto state has been arrested with about N2m worth of recharge cards, another $3,200 and N1m on arrival at Madina, Saudi Arabia.

The recharge cards were for different Nigerian networks which is against the law of the Kingdom.

The pilgrim (name withheld) was said to have been on the sixth flight that conveyed over 500 pilgrims to Makka from Sokoto last Friday.

He was said to have been arrested during check up by the Saudi authorities at the airport.

According to one of the official delegates from the state, Sheikh Kofar Rini, the money was later released to the pilgrim after their intervention.

"The dollars were entrusted to him by three pilgrims and it was their BTAs," he said.

Sheikh Kofar Rini added: "We know him to be honest and trustworthy without a criminal record, the qualities that endeared him to many people to this extent. So, there is no foul play.”

On the recharge cards, he said they were seized because they were against the law of the kingdom but they had promised to return them back to the pilgrim after the hajj exercise.

Kofar Rini however, appealed to the National Hajj Commission to reverse to the old policy of allowing states to come with their medical team for convenience.

He said so far two of their pilgrims were hospitalized and that a woman who had developed a mental problem got cured and had been to Makkah for the hajj rites.