Hajj Crane Accident: Saudi pays compensation to Nigerian victims – Official

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has released compensation to be paid to
the families of the Nigerian victims of the 2015 Hajj crawler crane
accident, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria has disclosed.
The spokesperson of the Hajj Commission, Fatima Usara, said Nigeria’s
envoy to Saudi Arabia, Muhammad Dodo, disclosed the development during
a meeting with the officials of the commission in Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia.
Six Nigerians died in the accident, which happened on September 11,
2015, as a crawler crane toppled over onto the Masjid al-Haram, the
grand mosque in Mecca. Over a hundred more people from other countries
were killed and 394 injured.
However, in Ms Usara’s statement, the compensation said to have been
released to Nigeria was for the families of five deceased victims. The
statement added two injured persons are also to benefit from the
compensation.
“The compensations for five among the deceased and two seriously
injured pilgrims were released to the Nigerian Embassy in Riyadh which
has forwarded same for handing over to the families of the victims,”
said Ms Usara.
“The commission will coordinate payment of the compensation in
accordance with provisions of the law.”
The statement did not state the actual amount released and the names
of the officials as well as why one person was left out.
In the wake of the tragedy, the Saudi monarch, Salman Al-Saud, had
reportedly ordered that one million Saudi Riyal be distributed as
compensation to the families of the deceased victims, another one
million Riyal to be paid to the victims with permanent disability, and
500 thousand Riyal for victims without lasting injuries.
The non-disclosure of the actual amount that was released to Nigeria
raises concern about the transparent management of the money.
In 2017, Nigeria was plunged into an international embarrassment after
officials diverted the tonnes of dates donated by Saudi Arabia to
Nigeria for free distribution to persons displaced by Boko Haram
insurgency.
Then, the Nigerian Commission for refugees, Migrants and Internally
Displaced Persons, then headed by Sadiya Farouk, was responsible for
the distribution as well as the diversion of the dates. Ms Farouk is
now Nigeria’s minister for humanitarian affairs, disaster management
and social development.
In the 2015 Hajj accident, the six pilgrims Nigeria lost were from
Gombe, Kaduna and Katsina states.