Thousands of prospective corps members and their families are gripped by anxiety as the 2026 Batch A (Stream 1) orientation exercise of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) begins nationwide, amid rising insecurity in several states affected by banditry, kidnappings and terrorist attacks.
The exercise, scheduled to run for 21 days from January 21, is taking place across all 37 orientation camps, including high-risk states such as Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, Plateau, Yobe and Borno. Although about 650,000 graduates are expected to be mobilised across all streams in 2026, only around 40 per cent are participating in the current batch, with media reports estimating that about 8,000 corps members are deployed to insecurity-prone states.
Corps members already in camp expessed that they undertook long and fearful journeys, describing anxiety over possible attacks while travelling. Several said their families were deeply worried, though many felt some reassurance upon arrival due to heavy security presence at orientation camps, particularly in states like Zamfara, Kaduna and Borno.
Parents and education stakeholders have also raised concerns, urging the Federal Government and security agencies to ensure maximum protection for corps members. The National President of the Parents-Teachers Association of Nigeria, Haruna Danjuma, stressed that deployments to volatile areas must be matched with robust security collaboration involving security agencies as well as traditional and religious leaders.
In response, NYSC and state government officials said security had been reinforced, with some states relocating orientation camps from high-risk areas to safer locations. Zamfara moved its camp to Gusau, Kaduna continues to operate a temporary camp under heavy security, and Kwara relocated its camp to Ilorin. Officials maintained that the measures were taken to safeguard corps members, even as analysts called for a broader review of camp locations in volatile regions.