FIRST BATCH OF INTENDING CHRISTIAN PILGRIMS DEPART TO GREECE

The first batch of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims to Greece for the 2013 October/December pilgrimage departed the Nnamdi Azikiwe’s International Airport

The first batch of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims to Greece for the 2013 October/December pilgrimage departed the Nnamdi Azikiwe’s International Airport - Abuja on Tuesday night to Athens, Greece.

The group comprised 183 Pilgrims from Kwara, Edo, Delta, Ekiti, Cross River, Taraba, Adamawa, Benue, Nasarawa, Enugu and Niger States.

The figure also includes consular officials and some private sponsored Pilgrim across the Country.

The flight was the first direct flight to Greece since the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) commenced operation to Greece.

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC), Mr. John Kennedy Opara, represented by the Head of Administration, Rev. Amos Yohana, urged the intending Pilgrims to be good Ambassadors of the country.

He urged them to make the best use of their three days stay in Greece, noting that the Commission had designed a programme that would make their visit rewarding. His words “do not do anything that will drag the name of our country to the mud and the God that you serve while in Greece and later in Israel”.

He further added; “the younger people among you, this is not an opportunity for you to go and tarnish the image and name of our country because somebody signed for you to get the Visa”.

He said that the country looked up to the prayers of the pilgrims for God’s Intervention in Nigeria’s challenges.

The intending Pilgrims will spend three days in Greece and seven days in Israel.