The Adamawa State Muslim Pilgrims’ Welfare Commission has refunded N157, 952.880 million to 2,586 pilgrims who performed the 2023 pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

This was contained in a statement signed by Aisha Sa’ad, the commission’s information officer on Monday in Yola.

The statement said that the fund refunded was given to pilgrims as a compensation for the poor services rendered to them while in the holy land.

“Each pilgrim who performed Hajj (pilgrimage) in 2023 was paid N61, 080 for poor services rendered by the service providers at the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has refunded money to Nigeria through National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to be shared among the 36 States of the country.

“The sum of 150 Saudi Riyals which is equivalent to N157,952.880 was given to Adamawa State Muslim Pilgrims’ Welfare Commission by the NAHCON to be shared to 2,586 Pilgrims that performed the 2023 Hajj exercise,” it added.

The statement said that the disbursement was done successfully with all the beneficiaries receiving payment through their bank accounts.

The first 90 Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel under the terms of the Gaza ceasefire deal were freed hours after an agreement took effect on Sunday.

This is to halt the fighting that has devastated the coastal territory; local media cited Israeli authorities as confirming.

Local media outlets, including the Times of Israel, cited the prison authority as confirming the release, saying that most of the freed prisoners were women and minors.

The majority of the detainees came from the West Bank, while others were from East Jerusalem, according to the reports.

Palestinian media has showed the footage and pictures of what they said were released prisoners arriving in Ramallah.

On Sunday, the Palestinian militant organisation Hamas released the first three Israeli hostages as part of the ceasefire agreement.

They were transferred by the Palestinian militant group Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Sunday afternoon.

Among those transferred were three women, named by the Israeli military as Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher.

They were then transferred to Israeli forces and transported to a hospital in Tel Aviv, where they were greeted by family.

A Hamas spokesman had confirmed that four more Israeli hostages would be released next Saturday.

This will be part of the deal to exchange 33 hostages for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails over the course of six weeks.

Following months of stalemate in the 15-month Gaza war, a three-stage ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was brokered on Wednesday, capping months-long efforts by the U.S.

Others are; Egypt and Qatar to mediate between the warring parties.

The first stage of the ceasefire agreement also foresaw the Israeli military withdrawing from densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.

The Kano State Government has inaugurated a 14-member committee tasked with reviewing existing education policies in the state.

Inaugurating the committee on Thursday in Kano, the Commissioner for Education, Dr Ali Makoda, said that the committee was constituted by the Kano State Executive Council to assess the state’s education policies.

“This committee was originally scheduled to be inaugurated by the governor, but due to prior engagements, he has delegated the responsibility to me so that we can begin our work immediately,” Makoda stated.

The Commissioner outlined the committee’s terms of reference, which include reviewing the four existing education policies in the state to assess whether they align with the cultural and religious beliefs of the people.

“Evaluating the feasibility of implementing the policies, and making recommendations to strengthen the state’s education system.”

He noted that the four policies to be reviewed include the Kano State Girls’ Education Policy, Kano State Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Policy, Kano State Non-State School Policy, and Kano State Teacher Development Policy.

Makoda announced that the committee has been given three weeks to submit its report, and urged the members to leverage their expertise to produce recommendations that would enhance the state’s education sector.

In his response, the committee chairman, Malam Abdullahi Dutse, assured the commissioner of the committee’s commitment to work collaboratively to meet the expectations placed on them.

“Considering the diverse expertise of the committee members, I believe the government has selected individuals with the right skills to address the challenges facing education in the state. We will work diligently to provide the necessary report,” he said.

The committee’s members include Malam Abdullahi Dutse (Chairman), Prof Abdallah Uba -Adamu, Habibu Dan Almajiri, Alhaji Danlami Garba, Kano State Commissioner for Women, Children, and Disabled Affairs Hajiya Amina Abdullahi, and Isa Ahmad.

Other members are Prof Tijjani Naniya, Malam Kabiru Hanga, Munzali Mustapha, Prof Auwal Halliru Arzai, and Dr Bashir Aliyu -Umar.

The remaining include the representatives of the Emirate Council and Civil Society Organizations, and Ibrahim Bawa, Director of Archives and Publications, who will serve as Secretary of the committee.