Kwara pilgrims receive $ 500 refund after an exchange of dollars in Saudi Arabia

The government of the state of Kwara claims to have replaced the stolen basic travel allowance (BTA) of some of its pilgrims who have fallen victims of scammers in Saudi Arabia.

This follows a viral video showing some of the pilgrims who complain they have received $ 1 invoices instead of the $ 500 data.

It was collected that the affected pilgrims, about nine of them who include seven men and two women, who are mostly elderly, had sought help from strangers to convert their dollars to Riyal Sauditi.

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The suspicions presumably took advantage of their ignorance to change money during the exchange.

Professor Abubakar Aliagan, a popular scholar in the state, had initially raised the alarm on the question in a viral video from Saudi Arabia.

Aliagan said in the video that many of the victims were deceived while trying to get gold or silver teeth, among other services.

Kwara’s state welfare advice has suggested that the fraud has occurred after the pilgrims arrived in Medina.

The executive secretary of the Board of Directors, Abdulsalam Abdulkadir, in a Sunday declaration, confirmed that investigations were underway to identify those behind the criminal act.

He warned that anyone who found guilty will face the entire weight of the law.

Each pilgrim, observed, had previously received $ 500 publicly and in the presence of officials of the Department of State Services (DSS).

“They counted the money and signed before departure,” he said.

But following the accident, the governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq approved a new $ 500 disbursement to each of the pilgrims affected to compensate for the loss.

The Council claimed to have accepted the proposal of the Nigeria central bank to stop the cash distribution of the BTA, adding that the preloaded debit cards will reduce the risk of theft and will help the elderly pilgrims to manage their funds safely.

While expressing gratitude to the governor for its rapid intervention, the Council condemned the actions of those who took advantage of vulnerable pilgrims.

He invited the public to provide useful information that could lead to the arrest of the authors.