Kaduna pilgrim’s agency laments dwindling Christian pilgrims

 

The executive secretary of Kaduna Pilgrims Welfare Agency (KPWA), Malam Yusuf Arigasiyyu,  Thursday met Christian clerics in the state and lamented that only eight Christian pilgrims performed pilgrimage to Jerusalem this year.

Addressing a one-day sensitisation meeting on Jerusalem Pilgrims with Christian Stakeholders in the state, he said the agency was not happy about the development compared to over 2,000 Muslim pilgrims that performed Hajj this year.

He said the agency  now supervised both the Christians and Muslims pilgrims to the Holy Lands hence the need for the meeting with the Christian pastors and reverends  to sensitise them and find a solution to the low patronage of Christian pilgrims. 

“This year, over 2,000 Muslim pilgrims participated in hajj and those planning to go were more than 6,000 but for Christians, only eight participated in an organisation with staff handling the agency. You can see that government is spending money without an outcome.

“This is an opportunity to appeal to the Christian community to encourage, enlighten and educate the Christian communities to see the importance of going to pilgrimage even for prayer for the country. With high sensitization, the message will reach those who can support the christians to always perform pilgrimage.

Former secretary, Christian Association of Nigeria, Reverend Sunday Ibrahim urged the state government to return the support for Christian to enable them perform pilgrimage as done by previous state governments. He also commended the agency for organising the sensitisation with Christian leaders, urging them to educate the Christian faithful on the importance of performing pilgrimage.