The 77 Delta State pilgrims who were on Wednesday, September 1, 2021, not airlifted from the Port Harcourt International Airport to Jordan for pilgrimage have eventually joined 223 of their colleagues.
The Delta State Government had on Thursday, September 2, 2021, blamed the inability of the 77 pilgrims to be airlifted on the decision of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) to centralise COVID-19 tests for intending pilgrims in the state.
This decision according to the state Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, accounted for the inability of the NCPC to upload the Covid-19 test results on their website after the pilgrims were confirmed negative.
Aniagwu had said in a statement that the centralised COVID-19 test ordered by the NCPC caused untold hardship to the intending pilgrims in the state because of the haphazard release of the test results.
The 77 pilgrims who left Port Harcourt International Airport on Sunday night onboard the Jordan Aviation aircraft courtesy of the chartered flight by the Delta State Government arrived in Amman, Jordan on Monday for the Holy pilgrimage.
The pilgrims led by the Special Adviser to the Delta State Governor on Religious Matters, Apostle Sylvanus Okorote on arrival thanked God for safety and appreciated Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for ensuring that the 76 pilgrims were airlifted.
