Chairman Explains Deduction In Pilgrims’ Allowances

The Rivers State Chairman of Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Very Rev. Monsignor John Wangbu, has said that the $750 allowances given to pilgrims for the 2011 pilgrimage to Israel was the amount approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as Basic Travelling Allowance (BTA) for pilgrims.

Very Rev.  Wangbu was reacting to media reports on the alleged deduction of pilgrims allowances by the board.

The chairman noted that though Governor Amaechi, approved the sum of $1,000 per pilgrim, the reduction came as a result of the CBN policy.

He stressed that his board was intensifying efforts to ensure that the balance of the money was paid to the affected pilgrims.

On the death of one of the pilgrims, Very Rev. Father Wangbu described the incident as unfortunate and attributed it to lack of insincerity on the part of pilgrims.

He wondered why pilgrims do not disclosed the state of their health before embarking on the pilgrimage, pointing out that the man in question stated in his form that he had no health problem, while he was suffering from asthma.

The chairman described the 2011 exercise as successful since none of the over 2,400 pilgrims sponsored by the state government absconded during the exercise.

He said that since his assumption of office their had been a lot of improvement in the activities of the board and called on pilgrims sponsored to ensure that they do not nominate someone twice as it is against the state government policy.