The Kano State Pilgrims Welfare Board, KSPWB has described as false the purported video footage showing a female pilgrim being allegedly swindled of her $800 Basic Travel Allowance by its Center Officer in Madina, Saudi Arabia.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that on Friday morning, video footage appeared on social media, showing a pilgrim believed to be from Makoda local government area of Kano State narrating how she was allegedly defrauded of her BTA by the officer in charge of the local council.
In the 3-minute long video, some persons at the background told the embattled pilgrim to accuse the said centre officer, identified in the clip as Salisu, of replacing her $800 BTA with $1 notes when she went to buy a golden tooth in Madinah.
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However, in a swift reaction, the Executive Secretary of the state’s pilgrims’ welfare board, Abba Dambatta, debunked the allegation, saying the footage was recorded in order to defame the board and Kano State at large.
According to him, when the board saw the video clip, a 5-man committee was immediately constituted in Madina to investigate the matter.
During the investigation, he said, the board found that the pilgrim in question had been sponsored by her son, who handed over her care, alongside $500 of her BTA to his neighbour, who is also performing the Hajj.
Mr Dambatta explained that, “after her son handed over the $500 to his neighbour as a way of safekeeping because his mother is a first-timer pilgrim, he also gave her the $8 in order to buy things in the holy land.”
“As I am speaking to you now, the whole matter had been investigated and turned out to be a lie, ” he said.
The ES further said that the woman that instigated the pilgrim to make the false allegations is not a pilgrim, adding that she is a ‘Takari’, who engages in defrauding Nigerian pilgrims through dubious means.
He called on the entire Nigerian pilgrims to fear God and put in mind that they are in the Holy Land to worship Him, not to engage in committing illicit acts that could render their act of worship useless.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that hours after the first video went viral, another two videos appeared simultaneously with one showing the pilgrim in question debunking the allegations herself.
Also, the other video shows the man that instigated the video begging for forgiveness before the 5-man committee formed to investigate the matter.
