We Slept Outside With Mosquitoes’: Pilgrims Stranded In Saudi Arabia Despite Paying Over N8.3Million Each For Hajj
‘We Slept Outside With Mosquitoes’: Pilgrims Stranded In Saudi Arabia Despite Paying Over N8.3Million Each For Hajj
The affected pilgrims were identified in the footage as coming from Yola North, Song and Madagali local government areas. Madagali is the hometown of Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri.
Outrage has erupted among Nigerian pilgrims from Adamawa State after a viral video showed dozens of mostly elderly men and women stranded in Saudi Arabia without accommodation, despite having paid millions of naira for the 2025 Hajj pilgrimage.
The visibly distressed pilgrims, many of them elderly women, were seen lamenting their condition after arriving in the holy land only to discover there was reportedly no hotel space or proper arrangements made for them.
The affected pilgrims were identified in the footage as coming from Yola North, Song and Madagali local government areas. Madagali is the hometown of Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri.
The development has triggered anger among Nigerians after it emerged that each intending pilgrim from the Borno/Adamawa zone paid about N8,327,125.59 for the 2025 Hajj exercise as approved by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON)
According to the official Hajj fare breakdown released by NAHCON in January 2025, pilgrims from Adamawa and Borno were charged over N8.3 million each, excluding personal spending and other unofficial expenses many families reportedly incurred before departure.
In the now-viral footage, confusion and frustration were evident as stranded pilgrims sat helplessly beside their luggage, with some claiming they had spent over 24 hours waiting for officials responsible for their accommodation.
Several of the women in the video said they repeatedly tried to locate a man identified simply as “Suleiman,” who they alleged was in charge of accommodation and logistics for their group, but claimed he could not be found.
“We have not seen Suleiman since we arrived here,” one elderly woman said in Hausa while clutching her travelling bag. “They brought us here and abandoned us.”
Another female pilgrim, visibly exhausted, lamented: “We slept outside here. We have old people here, sick people here. We have been waiting for hours but nobody is answering us.”
An elderly man in the footage also expressed anger over the situation, saying: “We paid huge money for this Hajj. How can they leave old people outside like this in another country? This is disgraceful.”
A third woman, who appeared exhausted, said: “Like other pilgrims, I slept outside here where there are mosquitoes. Whenever we ask about Suleiman, they tell us to wait. But since morning we have not seen him. No accommodation, no explanation.”
The incident has again thrown the spotlight on Nigeria’s controversial Hajj management system, long dogged by allegations of corruption, racketeering, poor accommodation deals and mismanagement of pilgrims’ funds.
Over the years, several controversies have trailed Hajj operations in Nigeria, particularly around accommodation contracts, feeding, transportation and allocation of pilgrimage slots.
In 2025, a commissioner with NAHCON publicly alleged that corruption was rampant in Nigerian Hajj operations, specifically accusing insiders of shady hotel accommodation and transportation deals conducted in secrecy.
Past allegations have also linked Hajj operations to inflated contracts and internal crises within the commission, although some accusations were denied or dismissed for lack of evidence.
The latest Adamawa pilgrims’ ordeal is already fueling fresh questions about how billions of naira paid by desperate worshippers are being managed while vulnerable pilgrims, many of them aged citizens, allegedly end up stranded in a foreign land during one of Islam’s holiest rites.
