Posted by By Kazeem Ugbodaga on
It was another day of mourning for the Lagos state government, as two of the state's pilgrims in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, died of cardiac arrest.
It was another day of mourning for the Lagos state government, as two of the state's pilgrims in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, died of cardiac arrest.
The state Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture, Alhaji Babatunde Balogun, confirmed the death of the two women yesterday. Balogun stated that the two women died of cardiac arrest within an interval of one week. The two women were said to be 45 years old each.
'The women, who are 45 years old each, died of cardiac arrest. One of them, Alhaja Ashafa, died before I left Lagos and the state government sent a letter of condolence to the family,' he stated. The last batch of Lagos pilgrims left for hajj, last Sunday.
Four of the pilgrims were quizzed by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the airport, before their departure. They were taken away and searched thoroughly to see if they were in possession of banned drugs, but were later released to travel after they were found innocent.
Few days after, the NDLEA also arrested two pilgrims from Lagos state for trying to smuggle drugs into Saudi Arabia. They are still in NDLEA custody. Balogun said the pilgrims were screened to ascertain if they were medically fit to travel for the hajj. It is, however, not clear whether the two women who died in Mecca were certified medically fit to travel.