Hajj Flakes – 3rd Dhul Hijjah 1447 AH
By Abdullahi Yusuf
1. Nigeria has recorded another death during the 2026 Hajj operations. Usman Abdullah, one of the Ondo State pilgrims, died in a bus accident in Makkah.
2. So far, 38,063 Nigerian pilgrims have been successfully airlifted to Saudi Arabia across 96 flight operations, according to the NAHCON.
3. A flight departed Maiduguri to Madinah at 13:39hrs with 278 pilgrims and 4 officials onboard. 4. NAHCON has deployed a cloud-based Call Centre system in Saudi Arabia to strengthen pilgrims’ welfare services during the 2026 Hajj operations.
5. The Commission says the platform allows pilgrims to make complaints and report issues relating to accommodation, feeding, transportation, health and other welfare concerns.
6. NAHCON says the Call Centre currently operates with five active workstations with provision for expansion based on operational demands.
7. Edo State has completed its airlift operations with 95 pilgrims arriving safely in Madinah alongside pilgrims from the Nigerian Armed Forces.
8. The Kano State Pilgrims Welfare Board has continued its airlift operations with the successful departure of the fifth and sixth batches of intending pilgrims to Madinah and Jeddah.
9. The fifth Kano flight departed for Madinah at 3:49 a.m. carrying 524 pilgrims.
10. The sixth batch departed for Jeddah with 392 pilgrims onboard another MaxAir aircraft as part of the ongoing Hajj transportation exercise.
11. Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza will be unable to perform this year’s Hajj pilgrimage due to the humanitarian crisis and continued border restrictions preventing travel to Saudi Arabia.
12. Reports say many Gazans who hoped to participate in the 2026 Hajj season have lost the opportunity because of the ongoing conflict and movement restrictions.
Did you know?
- Maqam Ibrahim contains the stone traditionally believed to bear the footprint of Prophet Ibrahim (AS) from the construction of the Kaaba.
- The first recorded written guidebook for Hajj was compiled in the 10th century, and early pilgrims sometimes took months or even years to reach Makkah.
- Kaaba is shaped more like a cuboid than a perfect cube, and the semi-circular Hatim area is traditionally regarded as part of the original foundation of the Kaaba.
- During Hajj, thousands of volunteers and support workers assist pilgrims free of charge with directions, translation, crowd guidance, first aid, and emergency support across the holy sites.
- Touching the Black Stone is Sunnah, not an obligation during Tawaf. When the area is crowded, pilgrims may simply gesture toward it (Istilam) instead.
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