Kana however noted that the 2016 death toll was the lowest in five years in Nigeria.
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A total of 18 Nigerians lost their lives at the just concluded 2016 Hajj in Saudi Arabia, Premium Times report.
Achmad, who was a member of the 2015 hajj pilgrimage monitoring team, said the government should look at the possibility of government-to-government cooperation with Saudi Arabia to increase its hajj quota in the form of invitation visas.
The Hajj is 95 per cent complete and pilgrims started travelling home on Saturday. Stakeholders made the call at the meeting, which also focused on reviewing the challenges encountered during the Hajj exercise and plans for the 2017 hajj.
Nuhu Badamasi, public relations officer of the Kano State Pilgrims Welfare Board, disclosed this in a telephone interview with NAN.
The Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia began on September 2.
They had purportedly paid a local syndicate to help them join this year’s Hajj rituals without having to acquire the necessary documents, and were arrested at two Hajj pilgrim shelters around the city of Mecca.
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While analysing the performance of the commission so far, the Chairman House Committee on Nigeria-Saudi inter-parliamentary Friendship and Hajj Affair, Dr. Abdullahi Balarabe, said despite the successes achieved, the commission needed to re-strategise for better performance in future operations. Three died in Muna, while 13 died in Makkah.
