Lagos APC mourns member as Hajj deaths cross 1,000

The Lagos chapter of  the All Progressives Congress has described the death of its Welfare Secretary, Alhaja Ramota Bankole, as unfortunate and shocking.

Bankole, one of the Lagos APC women leaders from Epe, died while performing Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

The Publicity Secretary of the party in the state, Seye Oladejo, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday that Bankole’s death “is most shocking and unfortunate.”

“She was a committed and experienced party leader. The deceased was a proven mobiliser and inspiration for women’s participation in politics. May her precious soul rest in peace,” Oladejo said.

The death toll from this year’s Hajj has exceeded 1,000, an AFP tally said on Thursday, more than half of them unregistered worshippers who performed the pilgrimage in extreme heat in Saudi Arabia.

Around 10 countries have reported 1,081 deaths during the annual pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam which all Muslims with the means must complete at least once.

The figures have come via official statements or from diplomats working on their countries’ responses.

The National Meteorological Centre reported a high of 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 Fahrenheit) this week at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

According to a Saudi study published last month, temperatures in the area are rising 0.4 degrees Celsius each decade.

Two pilgrims from Kwara State, Salman Alade and Ayishat Ologele, died earlier in June while on pilgrimage in Mecca.

The PUNCH reports that the pilgrims were among the thousands of Nigerians who travelled to the holy land to perform the Hajj pilgrimage.

Their deaths followed that of two other pilgrims – Saliu Mohammed and Hawawu Mohammed – whose cases were reported in Madinah.

The report took the death toll among the Kwara pilgrims to four.