Nine prospective corpers stranded in C’River after missing deadline

At least, nine prospective members of the National Youth Service Corps have been left stranded for several days after arriving at the Cross River State Orientation Camp due to allegations of lateness.

The NYSC officially announced the opening of the 2024 Batch C Stream 2 Orientation Camp on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, across all states in the country.

The aggrieved PCMs, who had travelled from various parts of the country with hopes of joining the three-week orientation camp in Obubra, shared with our correspondent that they were now faced with uncertainty and despair.

In separate interviews with PUNCH Metro on Monday, the frustrated young Nigerians revealed that a few hours’ delay caused by unexpected transport issues and poor road conditions on their way to the camp resulted in their missing Friday’s swearing-in ceremony.

One of the stranded PCMs, identified only as Ugo, who travelled from Osun State, explained that the delay was caused by an airline rescheduling her flight at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, moving the original flight from January 24 to 25.

Ugo said, “The flight was originally scheduled for Friday, but they informed me it would only arrive in Calabar on Saturday. When I finally reached Cross River State on Saturday, the bus taking me to the orientation camp made several stops. I spent many hours on the road before finally arriving at the camp.

“They allowed me to enter the camp, and I went to the accommodation centre. I was directed to the registration centre, but when I got there, it was locked. I didn’t know that the registration was taking place at the ICT hall.

“At the ICT hall, we were told to come back the next day because the portal had closed. When we returned on Monday, the coordinator informed us that we were to leave the camp by Tuesday.”

Ugo told our correspondent that the state coordinator ordered the security people at the camp to leave. “They told us to leave and said they didn’t want to see us anywhere on the camp premises again,” Ugo lamented.

Another aggrieved PCM from Osun State, who identified herself as Muslima (a pseudonym), shared that her health condition made the journey to the state orientation camp incredibly challenging.

To make matters worse, she alleged that she was denied registration and now faces the possibility of being sent away.

Muslima said, “I was unwell when I received my call-up letter and couldn’t travel by bus due to my health. I left Osun State on Thursday, but when I arrived at the airport, I was told my flight had already departed.

“I spent the night in Lagos. Someone at the airport suggested I take a flight to Uyo and then catch a bus to Calabar from there. I wasn’t aware of how far the place was from Uyo, as I had never been to the state before.

“When I arrived in Uyo, I spent hours waiting at the park for the bus to fill up. We eventually left at 4:15 p.m. and arrived in Calabar after 8 p.m. I was advised to stay overnight in Calabar since no buses were heading to the orientation camp. On Saturday morning, I boarded another bus from Calabar to the Obubra camp, finally arriving at the camp around 3 p.m.”

Calling for public assistance and intervention from the NYSC authorities, a distressed PCM identified as Chioma expressed concern that her rejection from the orientation could negatively impact her parents’ health.

Chioma said, “We need assistance. We spent a lot of money to get here, and I’m unsure how my parents will take this situation. I’m especially concerned about anything that could affect my father’s health.

“I had planned to resume camp on January 23, but financial constraints prevented me. When I eventually arrived at the camp, I and others had to wait for hours. Then we were informed that the portal was only open to accommodate five people.”

The state coordinator, Joke Oyenuga, and the corps spokesperson, Carol Embu, were unavailable for comment as repeated calls to their mobile phones went unanswered on Monday.

Additionally, text messages sent to them had not received any response at the time of filing this report.