Israel-Hamas war: Nigeria repatriates 310 pilgrims to Jerusalem

Nigeria has repatriated 310 of its nationals who were in Jordan after leaving Israel by road, where they were on a Christian pilgrimage, the Lagos State government announced on Tuesday.

“I am happy to announce that we have managed to repatriate by plane all 310 citizens who had gone on pilgrimage to Jerusalem,” Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo declared on X (ex-Twitter). -Olu.

These pilgrims were traveling from Bethlehem to Nazareth when they learned that an attack was underway in southern Israel, said Bukola Adeleke, special adviser for Christian affairs in that state and one of the leaders of the band.

“We were scared and everyone wanted to return to Nigeria, no one wants to die,” he told AFP after the group returned Tuesday morning.

The group - who were in Israel as part of a twice-yearly pilgrimage organized by the Lagos State government - and the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission organized their road trip to Jordan, from where they took off for Lagos on a specially chartered plane.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is divided almost evenly between the predominantly Muslim north and the predominantly Christian south.

Israel announced on Tuesday that it had partially regained control of its border with the Gaza Strip, placed in a state of siege, after four days of a war against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which has already left more than 3,000 dead.