Senate to investigate Hajj stampede

The Senate on Tuesday resolved to set up a committee to investigate the causes of the Hajj stampede which claimed the lives of no fewer than 50 Nigerians and over 700 others in Saudi Arabia.

The Red Chamber, which took the decision at its resumption of plenary after a long recess, said it would hold public hearing to forestall recurrence of the incident.

The lawmakers urged the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to coordinate with Saudi authorities to determine the actual number of affected Nigerians and to ensure adequate compensation.

Sen. Gbenga Ashafa (APC-Lagos East), who just returned from the Hajj, said that the Nigerian casualty figure would have been more but for the effort of the medical teams of the Nigerian contingencies to the pilgrimage.

He insisted that the Saudi authorities should be blamed for the stampede as they did not do enough to avert it.

According to Ashafa, only one exit gate out of 10 that were provided was opened, and this forced those who should have used the exit gate to resort to using the entrance gate.

He said that the number of Nigerian casualties was yet to be determined, but stated that as at Monday, the casualty figure was 58 while more pilgrims were yet to be accounted for.