Africa

Africa

Nigerian parliament speaker: diplomatic row with Saudi Arabia to be resolved amicably

30 September 2012 03:48 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Speaker of Nigeria’s parliament Aminu Tambuwal Saturday said the ongoing diplomatic row with Saudi Arabia over deportation of some female pilgrims would be resolved amicably, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Tambuwal who heads the government’s delegation appointed to resolve the matter told reporters here that concerted efforts were being made for the Nigerians to still perform the pilgrimage.

"I will be heading to Saudi Arabia on Saturday night to ensure the dispute is resolved as soon as possible," he said, adding the cordial relations between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia will pave way for peaceful resolution.

Appealing to the prospective pilgrims to exercise patience as the matter would be resolved to enable them to attend the religious function, Tambuwal said government of both countries had been meeting on the dispute.

More than 750 Nigerian female pilgrims in Saudi Arabia adjudged by the authority to be without male companion have been detained in Jeddah and Madinah in the past one week.

Saudi Arabian authorities on Wednesday deported 159 Nigerian pilgrims for the 2012 hajj to Mecca, over irregular papers and subsequently repatriated more on Thursday.

The deportees were returned to the West African country through Med-View and Max Air airlines, which had earlier transported them to Saudi Arabia for the exercise.