As Nigerian and Saudi authorities continue to bicker over the detention of Nigerian women in that country, reports reaching us say the Saudi authorities have begun deporting the detained female hajj pilgrims.
The first batch of 71 women from Katsina and Taraba States have already been deported and have arrived the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano (MAKIA) this evening.
The pilgrims arrived the airport aboard a Max Air aircraft with registration number 5N MM at about 4.58 pm., report says.
Four hundred female pilgrims from Nigeria, who arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for this year’s hajj, were on Sunday separated from their male counterparts and detained by Saudi authorities for failing to provide their Muharrams that is, the approved male companion accompanying them on their trip, usually their husbands, fathers or brothers.
There are reports that the number of detained women had risen to 1000 but that could not be independently verified by this newspaper.
The matter has sparked a fierce diplomatic row between the two countries, with the foreign ministers of the two countries unable to resolve the logjam.
Support PREMIUM TIMES' journalism of integrity and credibility
Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.
For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.
By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.
TEXT AD: Why women cheat: what every Nigerian man should know
