Eight Ghanaians Hajj pilgrims, four male and four females have been detained in Saudi Arabia on impersonation charges after Saudi authorities said the images on their passport did not match their identities. The eight were among the last batch of Ghanaian pilgrims who went to Mecca for this year’s Hajj. The Heritage newspaper in its Monday edition reported that the pilgrims where arrested because of VISA racketeering. But the Chairman of the Hajj Committee, Alhaji Alhassan Benneh in an interview with Citi FM news dismissed the publication. “They are about four men and four women; they were detained [over the weekend] at the Jeddah Airport. The authorities could not identify them; they said it was not their pictures that were in their passports. The authorities thought they were different people who were using the passports so; they send them to interrogate them to be sure...whether they were genuine passports or not,” he said. He said after the interrogation, they have been proven to be holding genuine passports but have not yet been released. All efforts are being put in place to secure their release, he added. “We have been working with the Ghana embassy here (Saudi Arabia).The consuler general is doing very well to get them released. I am very sure they will be released either today or tomorrow,” he added. According to Alhaji Alhassan after their release, the pilgrims will be returning home on a scheduled flight and may arrive on Tuesday or Thursday. Story by Aglanu Dela Ernest/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana