Middle East conflict: Nigerians suffer heavy financial losses as pilgrimage plans to holy sites are ruined

Hundreds of Nigerian Muslims are stranded after the escalating United States/Israel-Iran war disrupted flight operations across the Middle East, forcing airlines to cancel services and leaving intending pilgrims and travel agents counting millions of naira in losses.

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Saturday PUNCH gathered that many of the affected pilgrims had already obtained visas and paid for flights and accommodation in Mecca and Medina before airlines began suspending services across parts of the Middle East due to the conflict.

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Some of the intending pilgrims, who spoke to our correspondent, said they were scheduled to depart Nigeria between March 4 and 6 for the holy pilgrimage but were unable to travel after several airlines cancelled or suspended operations in the region.

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Umrah is a lesser Hajj performed by Muslims all year round in Saudi Arabia, but it usually draws large numbers of Islamic faithful during Ramadan.

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Millions of Muslims usually perform Umrah during the last 10 days of Ramadan, with available records showing that over 122 million Muslims performed Umrah during the 2025 Ramadan period.

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The scale of strikes by Iran on US military bases and other target areas in the Middle East has forced many airlines to suspend flights in Gulf states.

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On February 28, US President Donald Trump and Israel declared war on Iran, killing the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after missiles struck his office in Tehran.

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Dubbed ‘Operation Epic Fury,’ both the US and Israeli militaries launched strikes against targets in Iranian cities, triggering explosions and columns of smoke.

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This followed months of simmering tensions and a total collapse of diplomacy and negotiations between the US and Iran over the development of nuclear weapons by the Islamic Republic.

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Speaking from the Mar-a-Lago Situation Room on Friday, Trump framed the offensive as a pre-emptive necessity to neutralise Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

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Tehran also launched retaliatory missile and drone attacks across several countries in the Middle East and nearby regions, targeting US bases, allied facilities and strategic infrastructure.

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Iran’s retaliation, codenamed, ‘Truthful Promise 4,’ also saw dozens of missiles launched toward Israel.

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Tehran has attacked military bases and assets in about 10 countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Iraq and Oman.

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The war resulted in the closure of critical airspace routes such as Doha and Dubai, while Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE all announced at least partial closures of their skies after the US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

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Similarly, many airlines, including Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways, Air France, Turkish Airlines, EgyptAir and Ethiopian Airlines, cancelled services in the region due to the tensions.

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The cancellation of services by the airlines disrupted the Umrah plans of many Nigerian Muslims who had made the necessary arrangements for the trip.

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Saturday PUNCH gathered that a local government chairman in Ilorin, Kwara State, and two other government officials were affected by the cancellation of airline services.

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The intending pilgrims, according to one of them who spoke with Saturday PUNCH on condition of anonymity, were to leave Nigeria on March 4 with Emirates Airline.

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The government official disclosed that they had secured accommodation at Poinciana Hotel in Mecca and another facility in Medina, with a sum of 12,500 Riyal paid by each of them for a hotel in Mecca for their entire stay.

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Those who intended to lodge in Medina had paid 7,000 Riyal per night, with the official stating that they had invested millions of naira in the trip and their visa would expire on April 8.

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A popular butcher in Osogbo, Osun State, Rasaq, lamented that he had spent over N13m on the Umrah trip for himself and his wife, with the airline cancelling services in the Middle East.

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According to Rasaq, he and his wife were to leave for Saudi Arabia on Qatar Airways from the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos on March 3 before the airline cancelled services.

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Their agent told Saturday PUNCH that the airline could only reschedule the intending pilgrims’ flight based on his discussion with the company.

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An Islamic cleric in Ibadan, Oyo State, Alhaji Jamiu Babatunde, told Saturday PUNCH that his planned trip was disrupted after his flight booking was cancelled, with the cleric having planned to travel with his family during Ramadan.

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Ibadan-based businessman Abdullahi Abubakar said the uncertainty had also affected his business preparations ahead of the Sallah celebration, as he usually uses the Umrah trip to buy goods to stock his shop.

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Another intending pilgrim in the Agege area of Lagos, Mrs Ramat Abdullahi, said she had decided to postpone her trip due to safety concerns linked to the regional crisis.

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Islamic cleric and founder of Almuhsinoon Islamic Centre, Manchester, UK, Munir Hussein, said four of his team members in Nigeria could not make it to this year’s Umrah as a result of the war.

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Hussein explained that the airlines they were to use are asking them to reschedule, with hotels offering zero refunds, resulting in losses in many dimensions, including visa, flight, accommodation and food that had been fully paid.

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An Oyo State-based businessman, Alhaji Ishola Abdulmalik, said the tensions in the Middle East had disrupted his usual Ramadan travel schedule, with the businessman usually travelling to Saudi Arabia every year when Ramadan is five days old.

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Abdulmalik explained that Saudi Arabia had not shut its airspace and commercial flights were still arriving in the kingdom, but disruptions at major international transit hubs had made it difficult for many pilgrims to travel.

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He also revealed that some Nigerian pilgrims whose flights were cancelled were struggling to cover accommodation costs, with Abdulmalik having to help a couple from Niger State settle their hotel bill.

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Both Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways have yet to respond to messages sent to their emails as of the time of filing this report.