Insurgency: 12 years after, NYSC reopens Borno state orientation camp (thenewsguru.com)

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has opened the Maiduguri orientation camp in Borno state, 12 years after the camp was shut down due to the menace of  Boko Haram insurgency.

The Maiduguri NYSC  orientation camp was shut down in 2012 due to fears expressed by Nigerians over the safety of their wards.

After many years of lying fallow, the NYSC camp was later converted to an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS) camp, where IDPs from Damboa, Gwoza and Konduga took refuge.

With the return of peace, camping activities have resumed, with corps members deployed to Borno State for the one-year mandatory service.

The governor noted that the absence of corps members has denied the people of the state the right to enjoy auxiliary services from the scheme and the opportunity to share different norms, customs and cultures across the country.

Governor Zulum promised to engage the corps members, especially medical doctors and other frontline health workers, to contribute in critical areas of the state.

He also promised to reconstruct the NYSC permanent orientation camp, which has become a shadow of itself due to the long stays of IDPs overstretching the facility.

NYSC state cordinator in the state, Comrade Mohammed Adamu, said a total of 1,125 prospective corps members have so far registered, comprising 629 males and 496 females, adding that none have reported any form of security threat in the course of their journey to the state.

The coordinator commended the military and other security agencies for ensuring that the camp and its environs were safe and secure.

Chairman of the NYSC Governing Board, Alhaji Mohammed Bukar, remarked that the state has been prompt in payment of allowances to the members, urging them not to relocate to other states for any reason at all.

The highpoint of the ceremony was the swearing in ceremony of corps members administered by the representative of the State Chief Judge, Justice Bukar Malgwi.