Christian pilgrims to pay higher fare

THE National Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) has announced a 15 per cent hike in the 2012 pilgrimage fare over that of last year.The NCPC Executive Secretary, Mr. John-Kennedy Okpara, while briefing reporters in Abuja on the package for the 2012 pilgrimage operation, attributed the fare increase to the exchange rate approved by the Federal Government for this year's pilgrimage.He said the concessionary exchange rate approved by the President is $1 to N145 for the 2012 exercise, as against N135-$1 approved for 2011.He said last year, the total fare paid by pilgrims who went to Israel alone was N370,000, giving a difference of about N30,000 as against the N406,150 approved for this year's exercise to Israel.Okpara further disclosed that the fare for each pilgrim to Israel, Rome or Greece is N529,440, while that of the special groups, that is those between the ages of 70-80 years, is N400,425.
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