NYSC warns corpers against night travel, bans religious gatherings, others

The National Youth Service Corps has warned prospective corps members against night travel as they prepare to move to the various camps across the country on Tuesday January 9 for their orientation programme.

Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, gave the warning during a sensitisation webinar for the 2020 Batch B Stream II corps members on Friday.

The NYSC said all orientation camps nationwide would be reopened next Tuesday, amid cautious measures against COVID-19 spread including suspending religious gatherings.

Ibrahim urged them to avoid actions that could put their lives at risk.

He advised the prospective corps members to break their journey if they would travel a long distance before getting to their states of deployment.

He said the scheme would not hesitate to decamp anyone who failed to adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols while in camp.

“Please don’t travel at night and don’t endanger your security; kindly stay safe. If you are sick, let us know and don’t jeopardise the orientation course. We will not hesitate to decamp anyone who fails to adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols,” he warned.

The NCDC DG, Ihekweazu, also said the government could not stop all activities because of COVID-19.

He said, “We have got to find a way to continue moving forward with certain aspects of daily life in a controlled way, mitigating risks as much as possible.”

He said measures had been put in place just like in November 2020 to ensure that NYSC camps were safe.

Dr Oyeladun Okunromade, NYSC Camp Safe Reopening Project Lead, specifically said all forms of religious gatherings on its orientation camps had been banned.

The sensitisation programme with the theme, ‘Protecting the health of the Nigerian Youth: Safe Reopening of NYSC Orientation Camps’ also had in attendance the Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, and the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu.

Okunromade said corps members would resume with 200 daily and would be tested for COVID-19 on getting to the NYSC camps.

Those testing positive for the virus would be isolated at approved NCDC health facilities while those negative would be allowed on camps, she added.

The NYSC official warned that corps members who failed to resume at their allotted dates risk resuming with the next batch.

She said corps members were required to fill certain forms on the NYSC website to book their resumption dates.

“There won’t be any form of religious gatherings in camp. We encourage virtual activities,” she said, adding that corps members were required to come on camp with their face masks and other personal protective materials as the NYSC would not provide those.

Okunromade also said, “Maami market has been significantly reduced in line with the new normal. There won’t be any sitting down with friends to dine at the market but there will takeaways.”