By Daniel Tyokua
The FCT Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board on Tuesday, began screening of the 250 prospective pilgrims to Israel and Jordan.
Director of the board, Gloria Dandam disclosed this during the commencement of the holy exercise at the secretariat in Abuja.
She said the screening is to prepare the intending pilgrims for the journey slated between August and September, 2025.
Dandam explained that the exercise was being coordinated in conjunction with the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission ( NCPC).
The director revealed that the preparation will help the board to ascertain the legibility of those who have applied for the pilgrimage.
Dandam said the intending pilgrims will only be allowed to pay for the cost involved after they pass through all phases of the exercise which are in line with the extant rules.
While the board assured that a pre-visit to Israel showed that there was peace to guarantee sufficient safety and security of the Nigerian Pilgrims and officials, it also said that only sites within the safe zones shall be visited.
Dandam said, “We are having our screening today, our mop-up, because we’ve done the main screening. This is the second one. And our trip is supposed to be in August-September.
“We might be the second people leaving. So we need to conclude today, so that we forward our list to NCPC for visa issuance. That’s what we are doing today.
“ For the first batch, we screened 140 candidates. Most of them are private. Then today we are screening 110.
She added that, “ Those that are recommended to go for the trip, we will send them messages to pay their money, so that we can conclude and send it all to NCPC”.
