SAUDI Arabia has warned that it will execute any Nigerian pilgrim found with drugs on him or her while they are performing the annual hajj to Mecca and Medina in a desperate bid to end the growing menace. 

Annually, thousands of Nigerians make the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, as the country has the fifth largest Muslim population in the world behind Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. However, Nigerian pilgrims are notorious for engaging in criminal activity including prostitution, drug smuggling and money laundering. 

Exasperated with the menace, the Saudi authorities have decided to act by writing a strong-worded letter to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (Nahcon). In the letter, the Saudi's made it clear that anyone caught with hard drugs in the Holy Land would face summary execution. 

Nahcon chairman Alhaji Abdullahi Muktar Muhammed, said that the Saudi authorities are serious in achieving a drug free hajj pointing out that no amount of international pressure would make them spare the life of any convicted drug peddler. He added that the commission has made the stand of the Saudi authorities known to the pilgrims adding that out of over 27,000 pilgrims that have been airlifted to the Holy Land this year, not a single one was arrested for drug trafficking.

Alhaji Muhammed added: “We all know the stand of the Saudi government when it comes to drug trafficking. In fact they wrote a strongly-worded letter to us on their stand insisting no amount of international pressure will make them spare the life of any convicted drug trafficker caught. 

‘We have also educated our pilgrims on this and except for a woman who was caught with a large quantity of Tramadol, which is a controlled drug, no Nigerian pilgrim has been arrested so far. As of yesterday, a total of 27,383 pilgrims had departed for Saudi Arabia aboard 70 flights." 

He said that the use of e-tracking has greatly assisted in managing and ensuring hitch-free visa procurement for the exercise, pointing out that by next year’s hajj, all process would be automated. Alhaji Muhammed added that adequate arrangements have been made for the feeding and accommodation of pilgrims in Medina, Mecca and Muna with medical personnel on standby to give needed attention to anyone who needs it. 

According to Alhaji Muhammed, the commission has been able to procure visa for over 57,000 pilgrims while the remaining 8,000 visas would be ready within the next few days. He assured that the commission would beat the September 17 deadline fixed by the Saudi authority for all pilgrims to be in holy land for this year’s hajj.