The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), said Saudi Arabian was yet to pay compensation to families/victims of the crane mishap that occurred during the 2015 Hajj.

Dr Saleh Okenwa, the Commissioner of Planning, Research, Statistic, Information and Library Service of NAHCON, stated this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.

“NAHCON is yet to receive information about the compensation of victims of the crane crash from the Saudi authority.

“ But the Nigerian Consulate in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is monitoring developments and Nigerians would be fully informed about any development.

“ I am confident that the Saudi Arabian Government will keep to its promise because they are people of their words’’, Okenwa said.

He added that NAHCON officials would be visiting Saudi Arabia later this month to get an update.

Okenwa said the commission would meet officials of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Hajj as part of efforts to ensure early preparation and success of the 2016 hajj.

Okenwa said the meeting was a follow up on the earlier ones held in Saudi to sign agreement with accommodation and food providers in Mecca and Medina.

Six Nigerian pilgrims died in the tragic crane incident that occurred at the Grand Mosque in Ka’abah, Mecca, Saudi Arabia on Sept. 11, 2015.

Similarly, 274 Nigerian pilgrims died during a stampede in Muna where the devil is traditionally and symbolically stoned by the pilgrims.

Also 35 pilgrims were declared missing during the 2015 hajj.

After the crane crash at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, King Salman ordered the payment of one million Saudi riyal to the family of each person killed in the accident, one million Saudi riyal also to each injured whose injury resulted in permanent disability; and half a million riyal to each of the other injured.

The compensation worked out to N65 million to the dead and N32.5 million to the injured.