{"id":14152,"date":"2026-05-28T16:24:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/?p=14152"},"modified":"2026-05-28T16:24:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:24:42","slug":"hajj-nahcon-rejects-substandard-meals-probes-caterers-tour-operators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/2026\/05\/28\/hajj-nahcon-rejects-substandard-meals-probes-caterers-tour-operators\/","title":{"rendered":"Hajj: NAHCON rejects substandard meals, probes caterers, tour operators"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Olugbenga Salami<\/p>\n<p>The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, has restated its commitment to food safety during the 2026 Hajj, saying the welfare of Nigerian pilgrims remains its top priority.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement issued Thursday, the Commission said Saudi health authorities are enforcing, strict food safety standards due to the prevailing weather conditions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p>According to NAHCON, some dinner meals served on the night of 27th May, 2026 failed to meet required handling and packaging standards.<\/p>\n<p>The Commission said the meals were immediately rejected in collaboration with Saudi health officials.<\/p>\n<p>To address the incident, the service support company provided alternative light refreshments to the affected pilgrims.<\/p>\n<p>Members of the NAHCON Board also visited the affected pilgrims and briefed state officials on the development.<\/p>\n<p>The Chairman of NAHCON, Ambassador Ismail Abba Yusuf, has directed the Security Committee to investigate the caterers involved.<\/p>\n<p>He also ordered a probe into individuals linked to the award of the affected contracts.<\/p>\n<p>In a related development, Ambassador Yusuf instructed the Central Security Committee to investigate tour operators alleged to have brought in more pilgrims than officially registered.<\/p>\n<p>The Commission said some operators were exploiting innocent pilgrims by exceeding approved quotas.<\/p>\n<p>NAHCON warned that any operator found guilty after investigations would face sanctions, including withdrawal of operational licences.<\/p>\n<p>The Commission further disclosed that arrangements are underway for immediate refunds to pilgrims affected by the meal incident.<\/p>\n<p>NAHCON appreciated the understanding and patience shown by the affected pilgrims.<\/p>\n<p>It reassured all Nigerian pilgrims of its continued commitment to their welfare and safety throughout the Hajj exercise.<\/p>\n<p>The Commission said it would continue to work closely with Saudi authorities to ensure compliance with health and safety standards for all Nigerian pilgrims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Olugbenga Salami The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, has restated its commitment to food safety during the 2026 Hajj, saying the welfare of Nigerian pilgrims remains its top priority. In a statement issued Thursday, the Commission said Saudi health authorities are enforcing, strict food safety standards due to the prevailing weather conditions in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14153,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14152\/revisions\/14153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}