The first batch of pilgrims from Oyo State are on their way home after the completion of their holy pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina.
The first batch of Oyo pilgrims, numbering 262, left their hotels for the airport at 6.pm Saudi time (4.pm Nigerian time).
They are expected to leave Saudi Arabia, where they have been for about three weeks, in the early hours of Wednesday.
The aircraft conveying the pilgrims back to Nigeria is scheduled to take off at 1.am Saudi time on Wednesday morning (11 pm Nigerian time).
Confirming the news on the impending arrival of the pilgrims in an exclusive chat with BCOS News, the Chairman of the State Pilgrims Welfare Board (Muslim’s Wing) Professor Sayed Malik said arrangements have made to ensure that the pilgrims are brought back to Ibadan without any hitch.
“We thank Allah that our pilgrims are coming back home safely from the holy lands. And we are preparing for their arrival. We have secured buses that will convey them from Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos to Ibadan”, Professor Malik said.
Recall that the first batch of the pilgrims from the state left Ibadan on Saturday 21st of May 2022 and were airlifted to holy lands about twenty hours later.
The remaining batches of Oyo State Pilgrims are expected to return to the country later.