Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) on Wednesday flagged off this year’s Easter Pilgrimage to Israel at the Pilgrims Terminal of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Executive Secretary of the Commission (NCPC), Rev. Uja Tor UJa, while performing the ceremony, advised the intending pilgrims to ensure they handed over their problems to God “while in the Holy Land and defeat them there.”
He further charged them to “go Israel with the vision and power of God,” enjoining them to “be true ambassadors of Nigeria while in the Holy Land.”
“I want you to be proud of your heritage. God has given us, and He has given us well. No nation in the world can resist the force of Nigeria’s spiritual powers,” he said.
Also speaking, the representative of the Governor of Benue state, Mr. Terver Aakase, said the fact that the intending pilgrims were alive to perform the pilgrimage exercise was a testimony of the victory of Benue state.
He told the intending pilgrims that Governor Samuel Ortom would want to sustain a good reputation of the state while in the Holy Land, “fully knowing well that none of them will abscond in Israel.”
In his remarks at the event, the Executive Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Alhaji Murthar Mohammed, said the NCPC boss had “strong conviction for the peaceful co-existence of this country,” affirming that God would give him the strength to actualise it.
“I believe as you embark on this journey you should not come back except your prayers are answered. On July 18, NAHCON will commence the inaugural flight of the 2018 Hajj operations to Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Also speaking, a member of the NCPC Board, Rev. Dr. Israel Akanji, urged the intending pilgrims to “go to Israel and come back with a transformed life,” adding that “let it not be a commodification journey, but a spiritual one.”
The inaugural flight of the 2018 Easter pilgrimage was made of no less than 200 pilgrims from Benue.
Blueprint reports that the Easter pilgrimage ought to have been held at the first quarter of this year, but was delayed due to visa challenges which were recently resolved with the Israeli authorities by the Commission.
