Secretary of the Nasarawa State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Clement Odey, on Wednesday said intending pilgrims for the 2014 Christian pilgrimage will travel with Ebola virus experts to respond rapidly in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
Odey stated this in an interview with our correspondent in Lafia, the Nasarawa state capital.
He said the Ebola virus specialists would accompany the pilgrims for the pilgrimage though a preliminarily screening exercise would be conducted in the country before their trip.
He said, “Somebody may be looking very healthy and by the screening result, the virus may not have manifested yet, but in the process of travelling, things can change because we are coming from different states and even different countries to meet together.
“So the best approach is to travel with Ebola virus experts who will be on the ground wherever we are.
“Ebola is a serious matter and we are not professionals. That is why we are taking with us experts who will do thorough screening during the entire exercise which will be started here. The experts will quickly act in case of any incident so that we are not stranded there.”
He explained that the experts will also while monitoring pilgrims, be reminding them of preventive measures.
He urged the Christian pilgrims’ boards of other states in the country to take a cue from Nasarawa State so as to ensure a smooth and stress-free pilgrimage.
Odey also revealed that the board will be having a retreat in Abuja on September 3 and will also be travelling to Israel, Rome and Greece on September 6 for ‘Evaluation of State of Readiness’ visit so as to assess the state of facilities to be used by pilgrims in the various countries.
He, however, maintained that the family pilgrimage exercise for 2014 was abandoned due to series of challenges and the recent political unrest in the state.
Wow Naija 