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Nigerian senate move to probe Saudi Arabia's stampede

Xinhua, September 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday resolved to set up a committee to investigate the causes of the Hajj stampede which claimed the lives of 64 Nigerians in Saudi Arabia.

The Senate 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.

Gbenga Ashafa, a Senator who just returned from the Hajj, said 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.

In a statement on Monday, Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari urged the local hajj commission to speed up the census of Nigerians on holy pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi authorities said a total of 769 pilgrims died in the incident. Endit