Kwara State Amiru Hajj, Alhaji Ismail Bolaji Yahaya, has disclosed that approximately 15 pilgrims from the state were defrauded of their $500 Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) by unscrupulous individuals in Madina, Saudi Arabia.
Speaking to journalists in Makkah on Tuesday, Yahaya revealed that an investigation conducted by stakeholders and the management of Kwara State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board identified the victims as pilgrims of Fulani extraction who arrived on the first flight to Saudi Arabia.
Allegations and Investigation
"Our investigation revealed that some of our Fulani pilgrims were defrauded in Madina, particularly those who came with the first flight," Yahaya stated.
The Amiru Hajj explained that the Kwara State government's attention was recently drawn to a viral video featuring one Mohammed Bello and approximately four others. In the video, they alleged that at General Tunde Idiagbon International Airport in Ilorin, they received five $1 notes instead of five $100 notes, totaling only $5 instead of the $500 BTA they were entitled to.
"One of them alleged that the board, through its accounting department, gave them five dollars as against 500 dollars. I make bold to say this allegation is far from the truth," Yahaya emphasized.
Standard Distribution Process
Yahaya detailed the rigorous process for BTA distribution, noting that he personally went through the same procedure as all other pilgrims.
"The process is that every morning, operatives of the DSS check the accounting department, they search the accountants there to make sure they did not enter into their office with any counterfeit currency," he explained.
"They make sure they did not even go in there with any bag whatsoever. And at every point in time, this denomination of a hundred dollars, they count it one by one, place it on the table, and give to an individual pilgrim," Yahaya added.
He affirmed that each pilgrim from Kwara State received five $100 bills, totaling the full $500 BTA allocation, suggesting the fraud occurred after the pilgrims received their legitimate allowances.
Meanwhile, the Kwara State government has launched an investigation into the incident to identify the perpetrators and prevent similar occurrences in the future.
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