BREAKING NEWS: Appeal Court Justice, Jega, Identified as Casualty of Hajj Stampede

The presiding justice of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, Justice Abubakar Abdulkadir Jega, was one of the 717 pilgrims who died in last Thursday's stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia.

The deceased was a member of the Kebbi State Government delegation to 2015 Hajj.' THISDAY reported.

‎Government had earlier confirmed the death of the Deputy Secretary General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Professor Tijani Abubakar El-Miskin and renowned journalist and activist, Hajiya Bilikisu Yusuf in the stampede.

The stampede occurred while pilgrims‎ were going to perform the symbolic hajj ritual of stoning the devil at the Jamarat Bridge outside Makkah, in Saudi Arabia.

‎The late justice was a brother of the former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega.

Last year May, the deceased justice lost his wife to cancer.