SAUDI ARABIA IGNORES FG, DEPORTS OVER 500 MORE NIGERIANS

Saudi Arabia yesterday ignored protests by the Nigerian government over the deportation of female pilgrims as the Saudi authorities deported another batch of 510 Nigerian female pilgrims to this year’s hajj, still insisting that the women were unaccompanied by men which they say is against the rules of their kingdom. However, there is report that on board of the plane bringing the women is also a male pilgrim.  He decided to return home with his wife when his explanations and entreaties to the fact that his wife was accompanied fell on deaf ears. That shows clearly that there is more to the issue than meets the eyes. The Federal Government gave them a 24 hour ultimatum on Wednesday to redress the situation. 171 pilgrims were earlier deported on Wednesday.

Spokesman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, Mallam Uba Mana, said that the commission hoped that the Federal Government at the Presidency level would soon settle the matter which is already threatening the diplomatic relationship between the two countries. There are indications that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, is leading a delegation to Saudi Arabia on Friday (today) “to have a first-hand assessment of the situation and speed up the negotiation.”