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Claim: The National Hajj Commission raised the Hajj fare to 6.8 million naira.
Verdict: TRUE. Credible local and national news outlets have reported this story.
Full Text
As Nigerian Muslim faithful prepare to embark on the holy pilgrimage to Hajj, a blogger, Instablog 9ja, posted on X that the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) raised Hajj fees to N6.8 million, causing Muslim pilgrims to request a refund of their money.
The caption reads “Muslim pilgrims wants a refund after Nigerian Commission raised Hajj fees to 6.8 million naira”.
This post, as of Wednesday, March 27, 2024, gained over 5,000 likes, 324 comments, 681 retweets and 417,000 views.
This update attracted various comments from platform users, who registered their displeasure with the increase.
“Going to Hajj while your people are languishing in hunger will never make sense to me
Asalam Alaikum,” … @Bidal4life.
“… you’ll even see someone sponsoring Hajj who doesn’t have a job only to come back to nothing. Make it make sense,”…. @Hadeysina.
“Just 6.8mil …something wey, no even cost. Those requesting a refund are not true Muslims…” @Kamhini1.
“Refund Ke for where?” @Dnpassion said.
However, due to the uncertainty of the post’s authenticity, DUBAWA decided to verify.
Verification
A keyword search was conducted, and we came across Sahara Reporters’ report on the story on March 26, 2024, claiming that intending Muslim pilgrims demanded a refund after NAHCON raised Hajj fees to N6.8 million. On Sunday, the commission increased the fare for this year’s pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia by N1.9m while setting a deadline of March 28, 2024.
This increase was reportedly announced in a release titled, “NAHCON releases new developments on 2024 Hajj” signed by NAHCON’s Assistant Director of Public Affairs, Fatima Usara, on Sunday. The Punch newspaper reported that NAHCON also confirmed that pilgrims who registered for the 2024 Hajj before the previous deadline of February 12 will now have to pay a balance of N1.9 million following the current exchange rate. The report urges pilgrims to pay the balance before March 29, 2024, when the commission will shut down its systems and cease accommodating payments.
Channels Television’s online platform also confirmed this increase in its report on Friday, March 22, 2024. It added that the commission has also set March 28, 2024, as the deadline for intending pilgrims to make their payments. It attributed the increase in fares to the foreign exchange crisis rocking the country.
The NAHCON official website also confirmed this new development in its release titled NAHCON RELEASES NEW DEVELOPMENTS ON 2024 HAJJ, dated March 24, 2024. In this release, the Commission resolved that “each pilgrim would now have to pay a balance of N1,918,032.91 by the current foreign exchange rate.”
DUBAWA also came across a report by The Vanguard and Daily Post Nigeria dated February 3, 2024, corroborating other reports about the increase.
Conclusion
The claim is valid. Credible news outlets reported the fare increase and the reason for the increase.
