The Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board has appealed to the Bayelsa government to deploy more personnel to facilitate the smooth operations of the board.

During an interview held on the sidelines of the post-Arafat meeting organised by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) in Mecca on Sunday, the executive secretary of the board, Amirah Dokubo-Asari, expressed the need for additional staff. 

Currently, only two individuals are responsible for managing matters related to Muslim pilgrimage under the board’s jurisdiction.

“In Bayelsa, the problem I have is that we are understaffed; from the Muslim wing, we just have two people who do this operation, myself and my chairman, and it is really hectic. We have to always work. We don’t have helping hands; we have to make sure everybody is safe, so it is really tiring sometimes,” explained Ms Dokubo-Asari.

Ms Dokubo-Asari expressed her commitment to providing her best services to the board despite the lack of personnel. She, however, appealed to the state government to deploy more Muslim civil servants to help with hajj operations, thereby alleviating the burden of work. 

The executive secretary described the 2023 Hajj operation as smooth for Bayelsa pilgrims.

(NAN)