Travelling alone without their Husbands, Saudi Arabia banned 171 Nigerian Women from Hajj

Saudi Arabia has stated that women should not come alone to their country for Hajj unless they are accompanied by their husbands. Over a thousand  Nigerian women fell victim of this order recently. They had travelled to Saudi Arabia in the absence of their husband and consequently could not enter the Holy Land for pilgrimage.  About 171 have since returned to Nigeria through  Kano international airport.

National Hajj Commission stated that these women lack 'Mahram', (lawful male accompanying pilgrim) and therefore returned by the National Hajj commission to avoid possible embarrassment from the south authorities. In the past, Hajj welfare board used to act as Mahram and visas issued but things have changed. It was however reported that flights that entered through Medina airport were not subjected to such scrutiny like the one that landed a Jeddah Airport.