( CNN ) -- Saudi Arabia this week turned back more than 1,000 Nigerian women pilgrims who were not accompanied by male guardians or `` mahram . '' Saudi 's Ministry of Pilgrimage ( Hajj ) released a statement on Friday defending its decision , saying that it will `` not allow the entry ... of those who do n't comply with terms and requirements of the entry visa to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj . '' Saudi law requires each female pilgrim under the age of 45 years to have a male sponsor during the pilgrimage journey , regardless of nationality . `` This rule is applied to all women in general who want to get an entry visa to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj , '' pilgrimage ministry spokesman Hatim bin Hassan Qadhi said in the statement . So far , there has been no official explanation from Nigerian authorities on what might have happened . The last of the women arrived Friday night in Kano , Nigeria , after being stranded for four to five days at Jeddah 's King Abdulaziz International Airport , Nigeria 's state-run News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN ) reported , quoting several women . `` This is the most dehumanizing situation I have ever experienced in my life , '' one arriving female , who did not want to be named , told NAN . Another woman , Binta Malami , said she traveled with her husband but was denied entry to Saudi Arabia because her husband 's name did not correspond to the name written in her passport , the news agency said . Her husband decided to return with his wife in protest of an `` inhumane '' treatment . Saudi authorities denied any ill treatment . The Ministry of Hajj stressed in its statement that the Saudi government is keen `` on receiving the pilgrims from all over the world with ease and comfort in accordance with the applicable instructions . '' Most international pilgrims arrive in Jeddah via air or sea , then make their way to the nearby mountainous city of Mecca to perform the Islamic pilgrimage rites . Nigeria started flying its citizens back home on Thursday after sending a delegation , led by speaker of the House of Representatives Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal , to discuss the incident with Saudi officials , NAN reported . Alhaji Hamman-Adama Tukur , one of the Nigerian clerics who helped the stranded women in Jeddah , told NAN that the women were actually accompanied by male escorts , but that the checking system at the Jeddah airport was such that men were checked , cleared and asked to proceed . `` When it was the women 's turn to be checked and cleared , the security claimed they were not accompanied by their guardians -- mahram -- and were unwilling to listen to any explanation . '' Saudi officials normally separate men and women upon arrival as they check passports and paperwork . Islam requires every Muslim , who is capable physically and financially , to perform Hajj in Mecca , where the Saudi government says it receives almost 3 million pilgrims over a period of about 10 days every year .
Saudi authorities said women were not properly treated . Female pilgrims from Mecca returned home . She calls experience ` ` dehumanizing ''