Professor Jega’s Brother, Appeal Court Justice Among Dead At Hajj Stampede

According to the will,One of the dead in the worst disaster to strike the annual hajj pilgrimage in 25 years has been identified as Justice Abubakar Abdulkadir Jega, the presiding justice of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal and brother of the former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega.

At least two other prominent Nigerians have been confirmed to be among the over 700 persons that died during Thursday’s stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia. They are Deputy Secretary General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Professor Tijjani El-Miskin and Hajiya Bilikisu Yusuf, a notable journalist and columnist.

The deceased justice, who was a member of the Kebbi State delegation to the hajj, lost his wife last year to an undisclosed kind of cancer.

At least 863 others were injured during the stampede that occurred near Mecca, when two large groups of pilgrims arrived together at a crossroads on their way to performing the “stoning of the devil” ritual at Jamarat.