Thieves invade Tamale Hajj Village

Some Ghanaian pilgrims who arrived in Tamale Thursday afternoon from Saudi Arabia, had their excitement short-lived when thieves made away with their luggage at the Hajj Village in the Northern Regional capital.

At least 10 pilgrims had some of their luggage, containing items they had brought from the holy land of Mecca, stolen by the thieves who took advantage of the jamboree that characterised the arrival of the first batch of pilgrims.

The incident happened at about 7:00pm Thursday while the pilgrims were preparing to leave the Hajj Village for their respective towns within the northern sector of the country.

Each pilgrim on arrival had two bags with a name tag for easy identification.

Some of the thieves were said to have offered to help the affected pilgrims carry their luggage when they arrived at the village from the Tamale Airport to meet their relatives who were waiting to welcome them.

One of the thieves whose cover was blown after he had earlier stolen one of the luggage, managed to escape arrest.

The invasion of the thieves caused officials, including the Ghana Immigration Service and the Ghana Airport Company, to suspend the release of the luggage to the pilgrims until Friday morning after some of the affected pilgrims made complaints to them.

Security officers had a tough time controlling the hundreds of people thronged the Hajj Village to catch a glimpse of the arrival of pilgrims.