Sokoto State pilgrims Welfare Agency, confirms death of Imam

The Sokoto State Pilgrims Welfare Agency, has confirmed that amongst those killed in the stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia, is Sheikh Liman Dan-Ata, the Chief Imam of the Sultan Abubakar III Jumaa’at Mosque, Sokoto. This confirmation was made known to the public by the Media Assistant of the agency Alhaji Farouk Umar, in an interview with news agency of Nigeria(NAN) on Sunday.

According to NAN, the state government in a statement released on Saturday, by spokesman to Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Imam Imam, confirmed the death of nine other pilgrims in the stampede.

In a statement in Sokoto on Saturday, the government said that its officials, led by the Amirul Hajj and leader of its delegation, the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmad Aliyu, who was still in Saudi Arabia, confirmed the tragedy. 


It said that the team was still working round-the-clock to identify many of the pilgrims from the state who were injured in the incident.


The agency has also confirmed the death of the immediate Caretaker Chairman of Illela Local Council of the state, Alhaji Bello Gidan-Hamma, his mother, stepmother and two of his wives in the stampede.

According to the statement, those injured are receiving treatment ‎in different hospitals in Saudi Arabia.


“At this moment of grief and sober reflection, the state government urges all citizens to remain calm and intensify prayers as we await further confirmation from authorities concerned. May God bless the souls of those who died and may His healing ‎be visited upon all the injured. May God console us all,” the statement read.

At the time of writing this, it is reported that many other pilgrims from the state, are yet to be found.

Source: NAN