Fact Check: Authorities have dismissed as misleading a viral social media video alleging that pilgrims from Adamawa State were abandoned without accommodation in Makkah during the ongoing Hajj exercise.
The video, which showed several pilgrims resting on the floor of a hotel lobby, sparked widespread reactions online, with claims that the pilgrims had been left stranded after arriving in the Holy City.
However, officials familiar with the situation said the incident was caused by temporary logistical delays following the arrival of over 1,000 pilgrims from Madina after an exhausting eight-hour road journey.
According to the officials, the pilgrims had already arrived at their designated hotels in Makkah and all rooms allocated to them were fully secured before their arrival.
They explained that the delay occurred during the process of moving the large number of pilgrims into their rooms, as only two elevators were operational at the hotels at the time.
The process involved verifying room allocations, distributing keys and transporting pilgrims to different floors in batches to maintain order and safety.
Sources said many of the pilgrims, exhausted from the long trip, chose to rest temporarily in the hotel lobby while waiting for their turn to access their rooms.
“They were not abandoned and there was no accommodation crisis. The pilgrims were simply tired after the long journey and decided to rest while hotel officials completed room allocation procedures,” one official explained.
Officials of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria later visited the hotels accommodating Adamawa pilgrims in Makkah to assess the situation following the circulation of the video.
During the inspection, the officials reportedly interacted directly with the pilgrims, who confirmed that they had all been properly accommodated and catered for.
The commission also dismissed the viral claims as false and politically motivated, accusing the creator of the video of presenting a misleading narrative that failed to capture the full circumstances surrounding the incident.
According to findings from the inspection, all pilgrims from Adamawa State who arrived in Makkah were successfully lodged in their assigned hotels.
Officials further stated that the state government had made extensive arrangements to ensure the comfort and welfare of the pilgrims throughout the Hajj exercise.
The arrangements reportedly included quality accommodation, feeding programmes and medical support services aimed at ensuring a smooth and spiritually fulfilling pilgrimage for the pilgrims.
The incident has also renewed calls for caution against spreading unverified information on social media, especially on sensitive religious matters.
