*Photo: Adedoyin Kukoyi*
*Stage 1: Excerpts of what Adedoyin Kukoyi said in the viral video:*
NAHCO! NAHCO! (referring to NAHCON), National Hajj ‘kini won’?… You have defrauded us! For we are going to the holy land to go and work, ‘a n lo sise ni’, we didn’t go through the back door. Awon ti won o ni 750k pa da lo le (those without 750k went back home). Awa ti ani, ati wa ni airport lati Saturday (those of us who paid the N750k have been at the airport since Saturday). I decided not to make this video earlier than this time because I wanted to know if anything positive would come out of it. They kept lying to us. The Chairman (of NAHCON), Dr. kinni? The man with the white beard. He saw us and ran away. NAHCON and AHOUN, whatever your names are, you people have questions…Ole ni gbogbo yin (you all are thieves). I am on this case, and I will push it. You all are thieves, collecting money and not doing the right thing… Dr. Zikrullah, Chairman NAHCO (NAHCON), he has white beard, he was putting on a face mask. When he saw us, he ran away.
*Stage 2: How the media blew the story*
“We have been robbed”, Doyin Kukoyi calls out NAHCON over alleged Hajj fraud – was the headline used by the Nigerian media, including several bloggers who picked the story. Others used the same kicker; “We have been robbed”, with a related headline, “Actress Doyin Kukoyi misses Hajj, slams corrupt officials.”
According to one of the the reports, “Actress Doyin Kukoyi has called out the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) over alleged fraud. Doyin in an Instagram live session on Wednesday, July 6, accused the Commission of defrauding her and others of over three million naira which she claimed was collected as their flight ticket.
In all the reports, the fraud allegation was only focused on NAHCON as the body that collected additional money from the stranded pilgrims – without the mention of AHOUN.
*Stage 3: What happened when Muslim News visited the affected pilgrims on Tuesday, July 12*
i. At first, some of the affected pilgrims insisted that they paid into NAHCON’s account, but when we checked the Jaiz account number they allegedly paid the additional N750k (some claimed they paid N720k) into, it belonged to AHOUN, the Association of Hajj and Umrah Operators in Nigeria, not NAHCON. So, it was AHOUN that allegedly collected additional money from them.
ii. They, however, further said that they were optimistic that AHOUN wouldn’t work in isolation without the backing of NAHCON.
iii. They argued that Alhaja Kukoyi didn’t only accuse NAHCON of defrauding them even though she mentioned “NAHCO”, “NAHCO” and its Chairman, ‘the man with white beard’ several times in the video.
*Stage 4: AHOUN reacts to the allegation*
In a phone call with Muslim News in Saudi Arabia from his base in Kano, Nigeria, on Thursday, July 14, the President of AHOUN, Alhaji Nasidi Suleiman said the body doesn’t deal directly with pilgrims, but private operators who are its members. He then assured that if truly they paid into AHOUN’s account as claimed, they will get their money back.
i. No pilgrim paid directly into AHOUN’s account. That account they showed you can only be used by our members (private agencies) to pay into our account, not pilgrims. We don’t deal with pilgrims, we deal directly with private tour operators, who are our members. Every member of AHOUN has its own passengers. Money will be paid into private tour operators’ account by passengers (pilgrims). The operators pay into our account directly, not pilgrims. And, AHOUN paid through the RTGS’ CBN into NAHCON’s account.
ii. In any case, Al-Yusuf is a travel agency. We aren’t sure if he is our member, because if he is, he will not ask his pilgrims to pay into our account. He is the one the pilgrims will pay the money to, not us. It’s now his duty to pay into our account. And if truly he (Al-Yusuf) paid into our account, he will get his money back. Or, if they (the pilgrims) truly paid into our account, which is not supposed to be so, they will be contacted to send their account numbers so that they can get back their money. Anybody that paid into our account for rescue flight will get back their money once Mu’assasa remits money into our International Bank Account Number (IBAN).*¹
*Stage 5: NAHCON exonerated, vows to investigate fraud allegation*
Although not directly involved in the fraud allegation against the Nollywood actress and other pilgrims who eventually performed the Hajj, NAHCON had on several occasions denied collecting additional money from individuals or private operators and promised to investigate all the cases of fraud.
i. The Chairman, Alhaji Zikrullah Hassan said, “National Hajj Commission does not collect money from individuals. Even in the state, we also don’t collect money. Our investigations revealed that some tour operators collected additional money from their pilgrims with the understanding that they will charter an aircraft for them.”
ii. When we get home, we will thoroughly investigate this. I make bold to say that the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria collects no single money from any individual for the matter of operations whether in the states or tour operators. That will be the responsibility of their managers.
*¹. Hajj 2022: Saudi Arabia confirms receipt of N2.2 billion from NAHCON, ready to pay 33 private tour operators*
The Tawafah Company for Pilgrims of African Non-Arab Countries popularly known as the Mu’assasa on Thursday confirmed receipt of a total sum of 19.9 million riyals equivalent to N2.2 billion from thirty three Nigerian Hajj and Umrah tour operators through the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON)’s RTGS account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Read more>> https://muslimnews.com.ng/2022/07/15/hajj-2022-saudi-arabia-confirms-receipt-of-n2-2-billion-from-nahcon-ready-to-pay-33-private-tour-operators/
*Credit: Muslim News
