Pregnant Pilgrims: NAHCON to Sanction State Welfare Boards

Pregnant Pilgrims: NAHCON to Sanction State Welfare Boards

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem, in Makkah

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has said it will investigate and sanction the States Pilgrim Welfare Boards who enabled the pregnant women that came to Saudi Arabia for this year’s Hajj.

According to the Medical Mission to this year’s Hajj, nine pregnancy cases were discovered among the female pilgrims, out of which three deliveries and one miscarriage were recorded.

Fielding questions from journalists at NAHCON office in Makkah on Saturday, the Commissioner in charge of Planning, Research, Statistics, Information and Library Services, Shaykh Sulayman Momoh, absolved NAHCON of blame, adding that the blame rests solely on the State Pilgrims Welfare Boards.

He therefore told journalists that when the officials get back to Abuja, a meeting will be held and the Commission would explore disciplinary options for the states that allowed pregnant pilgrims to travel for Hajj.

“We will look at the merits of each of the states’ cases and when we return home and we will decide the disciplinary measures to dish out to them. We have internal mechanisms on how to deal with these issues. Whatever we decide, Nigerians will get to know,” he said.

He told journalists that NAHCON conducted pregnancy tests for all pilgrims that came through it and even its staff, adding that two of the staff members tested positive and were dropped.

He said that according to findings, medical personnel at some of the State Pilgrims Welfare Boards called the attention of the authorities to the fact that some intending pilgrims were pregnant but the Executive Secretaries ignored them and allowed the pregnant women to travel for Hajj.

Emphasising that such states will be identified and given appropriate punishments, Sulayman explained that this is the reason NAHCON do not allow the states to handle their own medical arrangements.

He also condemned the dangerous habit of some female pilgrims who choose to come for Hajj with pregnancies against all known rules.

Sulayman also informed the journalists that the pilgrim that earlier gave birth to a child after entering forced labour with a seven month old pregnancy did not only fail to complete her Hajj, she also later lost the baby who couldn’t survive in the incubator.

PRNIGERIA can recall that while briefing stakeholders before Arafat some weeks ago, the head of NAHCON Medical Mission, Dr Usman Galadima, had disclosed that out of the seven pregnant women that were discovered in the early days, one was delivered of a baby via caesarian session when the foetus was seven month old (the baby is now dead) while another pregnant woman had a miscarriage due to the stress of the Hajj exercise.

He listed the states that produced the seven pregnant women at that time to include Sokoto (2), Katsina (1), Yobe (1), Adamawa (1), Kwara (1) and Plateau (1).

It is not clear at the time of filing this report which states produced the two remaining pregnant pilgrims that were discovered in Mina.