A brother of the former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, Justice Abdulkadir Jega; another Justice of the Ilorin Division of the Court of Appeal, Justice Musa Hassan Alkali; the Emir of Zing and Ameerul-hajj of Taraba State to 2015’s hajj exercise, Abbas Ibrahim and two of his wives have been identified as being among those that died in Thursday’s stampede in Saudi Arabia.
Abdulkadir Jega was a judge of the Court of Appeal and also a brother to the Editor-In-Chief of Daily Trust Newspaper, Mahmud Jega.
A family source said that the body of the judge, who was a member of the Kebbi State Government delegation to the 2015 Hajj, was found in a mortuary in Mina, Saudi Arabia.
The Emir’s death was confirmed to journalists by the Chairman of the state Pilgrims Board, Hamman Tukur, who added that some pilgrims from the state were still missing.
It was reliably gathered on Saturday that about 100 Nigerians might have died in the stampede that occurred when pilgrims were going to perform the symbolic stoning of the devil in Mina, Saudi Arabia.
An official of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, who does not want his name mentioned said that more Nigerian victims were discovered when the commission’s officials joined their colleagues from other countries’ in Mina morgue to identify their nationalities.
The Nigerian hajj officials are still compiling the list of Nigerians affected.
Other prominent Nigerians, who have been confirmed to have died in the stampede, included the Deputy Secretary General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs Professor Tijjani Abubakar El-Miskin and a veteran female journalist, Bilkisu Yusuf.
Meanwhile, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria has begun a census of the country’s pilgrims in Saudi Arabia following reports that some Nigerians pilgrims were still missing.
The commission had on Thursday sent its medical team to hospitals in Saudi Arabia to ascertain the number of the dead and the injured.
It was gathered that the commission embarked on the head count when it could not account for some pilgrims.
Findings showed that the NHCN was conducting the census state by state and that the figure of the dead and the injured would be released officially on or before Monday.
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