BY OLA AJAYI, Ibadan

Pilgrimage to Mecca, as one of the five pillars of Islam, is a dream that every devout Muslim holds very dear to heart.

As a true Muslim, Mr. Akanni Ganiyu Arulogun has been praying for an opportunity to perform Hajj rite since childhood. But  the opportunity never came until this year when he clocked 64. Thanks to one of his children who presented the opportunity to him and his wife on a platter of gold.

So, his joy knew no bounds when his son told him and Mrs. Arulogun that he would foot the bill for their pilgrimage to the holy land. So, on May 12, 2015, Mr. Arulogun made the first payment of one million Naira  to Kaula Al-Imam Travels and Tours which was believed to have successfully made several intending pilgrims realize their dreams of going to Mecca where they ‘stoned the devil’.

Oguntokun Amole

Determined to fulfill his promise, the sponsor, their son, also raised money for the mother too and Mr. Arulogun paid the second time to the travel agency. This time around, he paid additional one million Naira  on June 22, 2015 and later paid the remaining N1.25m a month after. In all, he and his wife paid N3.25m to a woman who they popularly called, ‘Kaola’.

Another intending pilgrim, Mr. Oguntokun Jimoh Amole, told Sunday Vanguard that he paid  N1.625m on June 29 and August 7, 2015 to the same woman with the hope that, by the end of the year, he would add the title of ‘Alhaji’ to his name. In preparation, they had gone through the nightmare of getting their international passports waiting for the day they would be airlifted. But, unknown to them and nine others, fate was about to play a cruel joke on them.

After much waiting, they boarded a bus with the intention that they were going to Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos. But, they were told they would go by road to Abuja airport. But, on the way, their tour guide, identified as ‘Akeem’, told them they would make a detour to Kaduna from where they would link Kano. Though, it sounded unconvincing, they agreed to what he said.

While relating their ordeal one after the other, the four persons, three men and a woman, almost burst into tears.  Arulogun spoke first.

He narrated: “This matter I want to share with you concerns twelve people. It is only three of us that came here now.  I heard the commercials on a national television station that this travel agency helps intending pilgrims to travel to Mecca  and charges for their services. This woman we are talking about is the one that coordinates the agency. So, when one of my children gave me the money, I went there to make the initial deposit of N1 million, second deposit of N1m and the remaining N1.25m making N3.25m in all.

“When the day she promised us remained three days, she told us to pay additional N14,000 which we agreed to pay. We agreed to go to Lagos  airport but said later that we would first go to Abuja. On our way, they told us again that it was Kaduna we would go first. On getting to Kaduna, we spent one night there. When we got to Kaduna, one Akeem told us that we had to go to Kano where we spent another night.

“When we got to Kano  airport, we got our visa but we were not given any ticket and, you know, without air ticket, you cannot travel. That was how our journey to Mecca ended in Kano. You can imagine the trauma we went through. When we were still in Kano, one of my children, Taofeek Arulogun,  called me calling me ‘Alhaji’ but I told him we had not left Kano. It was by the special mercy of Allah that we escaped robbery attack as we were wandering about.

“Since she (the woman coordinating travel agency) has disappointed us, the best thing is to refund our money. When we demanded for our money in a meeting we had three days ago, she was begging us to be patient till next year when there was a man who has been on the queue since 2012 and, up till now, he is yet to go to Mecca. All he has been getting is unfulfilled promises.”

Arulogun further stated that while they were in Kano, all intending pilgrims were told to switch off their phones so that their people would not know they had not been airlifted.

In his own explanation, Amole, who adopted all the explanations of Arulogun added that they were asked to pay N5,000 each to obtain forms. According to him, after completing all the payments during fasting, he got receipts and they promised to call him after fasting.

“But, after two weeks that fasting had ended, I did not hear anything from them. When I got there, they told me that the money I would pay had increased but could not tell how much. They told us that the increase would cater for our feeding, accommodation and visa. I was suspicious when they demanded for this money. I asked if I could have a refund of the money I paid, but they said no. when I told my children, they said the whole expenses should be N1.2 million and not N1.6m. They advised me to collect my money.    The travel agency also told us to pay 300 dollars for ram but they have refunded this,” he stated.

Mrs Arulogun

“When we could no longer make the journey, Akeem Olalegan (tour guide),who is the agent there, told us that our money would be refunded immediately we got to Ibadan. But, up till now, we are yet to be paid. She said, by October ending, she will be paying the money piecemeal which we rejected”. A  popular printer at Ago Ilorin, Topstar, who was also among the disappointed intending pilgrims, confirmed the comments of the other two persons, adding that, at one of the meetings they had with Kaola, one of her people told them that they should not bother if they heard on a broadcasting station that they were among the pilgrims that went to Mecca this year.

This was vehemently rebuffed by these aggrieved people who asked why the woman was trying to take them for fools. They lamented that after they had allegedly been disappointed and were still struggling to get their money refunded, it would be double injury if she went on air to say they had completed the Hajj pilgrimage when in actual fact they ended up at Kano.

When Sunday Vanguard called the woman, whose first name is Kafilat, she said all she could plead for is patience, noting that it was not her intention to disappoint the people but her agent in the North did not pay for the tickets as instructed.

She said, “There is no perfection in Hajj issue. We had hired twelve hotel rooms and bought their visas. But, unfortunately, the person we gave the money did not buy tickets. When the intending pilgrims came back, I appealed to them to be calm. As I am talking to you now, I am in hospital receiving treatment. Help me plead with them to be patient. God will give us long life to witness another year”.

As for the person who was said to have been on the queue since 2012, she said the person in question paid only N400,000 instead of N1.1million. “It is only God who understands why our efforts did not pay off. I just tried to calm down my friend who is an agent. She lost four of her relatives in the tragedy that happened. All of them had visa, but God intentionally delayed them. If they want me to do an undertaking, I am ready to do it. By next year, they will all go and I will also go with them. We have helped so many people in the past. But, this one just didn’t work out”, she said.