Following the Israeli verses Hamas war, the Executive Secretary, Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC), Reverend Yakubu Pam, has revealed that the Nigerian pilgrim contingent has chose to heads to Greece and Rome instead to visit biblical sites for its religious rituals. The Reverend father stated this in Abuja yesterday while addressing journalists, saying that safety of the pilgrims has always been a priority to the NCPC.
He said that the crisis rocking Israel is responsible for the calling off the earlier scheduled Christian Pilgrimage to Israel and Jordan scheduled for December 2023 and is the same contingent that has been redirected to Rome and some holy sites in Greece by the end of January, 2024.
He explained that after a prolonged wait for the Israel/Hamas conflict that began since October 7, 2023 till date, his teams’ previous researches on Biblical sites in Greece and Rome were properly analysed while he had personally led teams to inspect accommodation facilities and existing biblical sites among other tasks in those said found new cities.
According to Pam, “Unknown to many, Apostle Paul, Peter, and the early Christians are why we have Christian sites in Rome; it was from there, that they founded several Christian communities in Asia Minor and Europe from the mid-40s to the mid-50s AD, beginning the spread of Christianity across the world.”
Meanwhile, the NCPC said the new N3 million pilgrimage charges covers a return flight ticket, hotel accommodation, three-course meal per day, tours of holy sites in executive luxury buses for six nights and seven days is exclusive of pilgrims travelling allowances while states and private pilgrims are expected to meet up with payments before the last day of January 2024.
