By Sarah NEGEDU
The Federal Capital Territory Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, FCT-CPWB, has commenced the screening of 250 intending pilgrims ahead of the 2025 pilgrimage to Israel and Jordan.
The exercise, conducted in collaboration with the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission, NCPC, is aimed at ensuring full compliance with all eligibility and security requirements before travel.
Director of the FCT-CPWB, Gloria Dandam, who addressed journalists during the screening exercise in Abuja on Tuesday, said the screening was a critical step in preparing the candidates for the holy journey scheduled between August and September.
“We are having our screening today, our mop-up, because we’ve done the main screening. This is the second one. And our trip is supposed to be in August-September.
“We might be the second people leaving. So we need to conclude today, so that we forward our list to NCPC for visa issuance. That’s what we are doing today,” she said.
She explained that no intending pilgrim would be permitted to make payment until they have successfully passed through all stages of the screening.
“For the first batch, we screened 140 candidates. Most of them are private. Then today we are screening 110,” she said.
Dandam added that candidates who meet the required criteria would be contacted to proceed with payment.
“Those that are recommended to go for the trip, we will send them messages to pay their money, so that we can conclude and send it all to NCPC.”
She also assured that findings from a pre-visit to Israel confirmed that the security situation remains stable and that only safe zones will be included in the itinerary to guarantee the safety of pilgrims and officials.
