BY MONSURU OLOWOOPEJO

Hundreds of pilgrims from Lagos State to this year’s hajj Wednesday staged a protest over lack of proper accommodation in Mecca, Saudi Arabia by the state government.

A total of 90,000 pilgrims were successfully airlifted from Nigeria for the holy pilgrimage

The protest which started some minutes after some of the pilgrims arrived Al Musfalah Hotel, Medinah from Mecca, one of the official hotels for Lagos pilgrims, yesterday, were left to roam and sleep in the hotel lobby.

Sources said that some of the pilgrims who expressed their displeasure over the accommodation process of the state government, also condemned the activities of some of the state officials who apparently abandoned them.

He added that the protesters also accused the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture, Oyinlomo Danmole and others who arrived Mecca on Monday, for not responding to their challenge as they perform their pilgrimage.

One of the pilgrims revealed “he would no longer tolerate the preferential treatment the state government officials were giving to some of the pilgrims whom they knew from Nigeria.”

The situation was, however, brought under control after several hours by the chairman of the Lagos State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Mr. Abdulhakeem Abdullateef, who promised to address the situation.