Pilgrims commission mulls whistle-blowing to prevent worshippers from absconding 

The Nigerian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) says it will adopt a whistle-blowing policy to prevent pilgrims from absconding.

In a statement on Saturday, the commission said intending pilgrims should be thoroughly screened physically or virtually to beat visa application deadlines, adding that henceforth, screening would be conducted by “very senior and experienced officers to avoid the incidents of absconding”.

It said the whistle-blowing mechanism would involve an effective screening system at different levels of its operations including screening at state levels.

“That staff on screening exercise to zonal offices should leverage on the knowledge of the staff of such zonal offices of the local environment to guide them,” the statement reads.

“That two staff or at least one staff who carried out the screening of any pilgrims should be made to accompany such pilgrims whenever they are travelling; this is to apply any knowledge gained during the screening for monitoring of those pilgrims.

“In this respect, the name of any suspected pilgrim should be compiled and given to staff travelling with them to nip any attempt to escape on the part of the pilgrims.”

The statement also added that staff of the commission should be trained in report writing skills, noting that it would enable them to capture necessary details of intending pilgrims during screening exercises.

“Accordingly, staff who delay submitting reports after screening will be thoroughly disciplined in line with extant rules and regulations,” it added. 

“Intelligence gathering on pilgrims with two passports should be intensified. Pilgrims’ renewed passports should be double-checked intensely to ensure that they do not submit the expired passport while still using the valid passport to aid abscondment.”

In September, Pam Yakubu, executive secretary of the commission, commended President Bola Tinubu for running an inclusive pilgrimage policy.