Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed deep regret and sorrow over Thursday’s Hajj tragedy in Saudi Arabia which claimed the life of Nigerian female journalist, Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf, and several other victims from Nigeria.
More than 700 pilgrims from around the world died in a stampede that occurred in Mina, close to the city of Mecca.
In a statement released by his media office in Abuja on Saturday, Atiku described the incident as one of the saddest accidents to have befallen Muslims in recent memories.
The former Vice President said such colossal loss of human life was rare and remarkably regrettable, adding that the Muslim world should be united in grief and offer prayers to God to avert this kind of accident of calamitous proportion.
According to the Turaki Adamawa, life is so precious that whoever dies, the world should be united in grief because “we are bound by our common humanity,” advising that “we learn lessons from these tragic incidents, and take precautionary measures to ward off future disasters.”
The former Vice President also conveyed his condolences to the families of the Nigerian victims of the tragedy. He described the late Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf, one of the Nigerian victims, “as the shining light of the journalism profession in Nigeria, and a pride to Northern Nigeria for being the first female Editor of the North’s two major newspapers – The Triumph and The New Nigerian.”
He noted that the late Bilkisu Yusuf was not only an outstanding editor, but also an internationally recognised activist on women and development issues.
He prayed to God to forgive the gentle souls of the dead and reward their sacrifices and devotion with an eternal bliss in paradise.
