Ten Nigerian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia have died , according to the Coordinator of the National Hajj Commission in Mecca, Aliyu Tanko.

Tanko said that at least 50,000 Nigerian pilgrims had so far arrived in Mecca with virtually all of them having performed the Umrah rites.

 According to Tanko in a telephone interview in Mecca, the commission’s three clinics and those set up by the various state pilgrims boards provide effective medical services to Nigerian pilgrims in Mecca.

He urged pilgrims to always seek medical advice before embarking on pilgrimage and warned them against exposing themselves to the harsh weather in the Holy Land.

Two lounges were provided at Jeddah airport to check African pilgrims for Ebola. King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) has the two lounges to receive pilgrims coming from Nigeria and some other African countries as a preventive measure against the Ebola virus.

“So far 118,000 pilgrims have arrived by air from Nigeria. There was not a single suspected case of the deadly virus among anyone of them,” said Abdul Ghani Al-Malki, the supervisor of haj affairs at the terminal.

 According to him, aircraft coming from Nigeria are thoroughly checked to prevent the deadly virus.

 ‘’Emergency doctors and consultants in infectious diseases are participating in the execution of the plan in addition to qualified teams who are capable of checking the virus,’’ Mr. Al-Malki said.

 “We are particularly checking pilgrims coming from countries with reported cases of Ebola including Nigeria, Kenya and Congo,” he said.

 The Saudi Kingdom has prevented entry of pilgrims from the Ebola-infected countries in West Africa namely Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.