Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq, has reimbursed pilgrims from the state who fell victim to a foreign currency scam in Saudi Arabia.
This was disclosed by the state Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board on Sunday.
A statement e-signed by the Executive Secretary of the board, Alhaji Abdulsalam Abdulkadir, confirmed that an investigation had commenced into “the recent incident involving some of our pilgrims who were reportedly defrauded of their Basic Travel Allowance (BTA).
“Every pilgrim was given their $500 BTA in five $100 bills in the public space and under the supervision of officials of the Directorate of State Security, who ensured that the currency was original.
“Each pilgrim signed for the collection of their BTA after counting it in the presence of pilgrims’ board officials and the DSS.”
The board, responding to viral videos from Saudi Arabia, said preliminary findings indicated the fraud likely occurred after arrival in Medina.
“Upon seeing the viral video in which some of our pilgrims said they had received five one-dollar bills instead of the five one-hundred-dollar notes, our preliminary findings suggest that these incidents likely occurred after the pilgrims had arrived in Medina, Saudi Arabia,” the board said.