Most Nigerian websites on this subject carry a long list of hotlines. A large proportion of those numbers do not answer, and some have not answered for years.
A dead number is worse than no number, because it is dialled at the worst moment of somebody’s life and it produces silence. So this page is short. It covers the numbers that work, what each one is actually for, and how to get a current number for anything else.
112 — the national emergency number
This is the one to know by heart. It is free, it works from any network in Nigeria, and it works from a phone with no credit.
Use it when there is immediate danger. Somebody is being hurt now, somebody has a weapon, somebody is not breathing, somebody has been taken.
What to say, in this order:
- The address. Say it first, before anything else, and say it twice. Give a landmark as well as a street, because landmarks are how anybody actually finds a place. If the call is cut off, the address is the one thing that still lets somebody come.
- What is happening. One sentence. “My husband is beating me.” “There is a man outside my gate with a machete.”
- Whether there is a weapon, and whether children are in the house.
- Your name, and a number to call back on if that is safe.
Do not hang up until you are told to, if you can stay on. And if you cannot speak, dial anyway and leave the line open — an open line with shouting on it is not nothing.
Response is not uniform across the country and in some places it will be slow. That is a real limitation and we would rather you know it than be surprised by it. It is still the first call.
A hospital, for anything time critical
Some things should not wait for anybody’s permission, a police report, or a decision about the marriage.
Go, or get taken, if there has been pressure on your neck, a blow to the head, loss of consciousness, abdominal pain, bleeding, a burn, a wound that will not close, or any injury during pregnancy. After a sexual assault, some treatment is time critical and the window is measured in days, not weeks.
You do not need a police report to be treated, and no hospital should require one before providing emergency care. What is time critical and what to ask for sets this out properly, and pressure on the neck has its own page because it is the one that most often gets sent home.
The police
For a crime that has happened, for somebody who will not leave, and for enforcing a protection order that has been breached.
Going to a station in person generally works better than calling, and going with somebody else works better than going alone. Gender desks exist at many commands and are usually a better starting point than the counter.
What happens next varies a great deal, including being told to go home and settle it, which is not a lawful answer to a criminal complaint. What actually happens, and what to do when that is the response is written from experience rather than from the regulations.
Us
Not an emergency service. We do not have a vehicle that arrives in ten minutes and we will not pretend otherwise.
Call us for everything that is not tonight: somewhere to stay, a lawyer, a job, school fees, documents held safely, counselling, or a conversation with somebody who will not tell you what to do. If you reach us during an emergency we will help you get to the right number, but call 112 first.
Our number is on every page of this site, and what happens after you make contact is written out step by step.
Why there is not a longer list here
Because we would have to keep it accurate, and organisations that publish these lists mostly do not.
Numbers change. Projects end when funding ends. A line that answered last year is somebody’s personal phone this year. We are not willing to publish a number we have not verified, and we are not able to verify thirty of them every month, so we publish the ones we can stand behind and tell you honestly how to get the rest.
The same rule applies across this site: where we do not have something confirmed, we say so rather than filling the space.
How to get a current number for something else
There are real organisations doing this work in most states, and the way to reach them is to ask somebody local rather than to trust a printed list.
- Ask us. We will tell you what exists in your state and whether it is currently answering, which is the part a list cannot tell you.
- Your state’s Ministry of Women Affairs has a responsibility here and usually a desk for it. A physical office is more reliable than a hotline.
- FIDA, the International Federation of Women Lawyers, has branches in most states and is one of the more consistent routes to free legal help.
- The Legal Aid Council of Nigeria has offices across the country for people who cannot pay for a lawyer.
- The National Human Rights Commission receives complaints, including about how a case has been handled.
- NAPTIP administers the VAPP Act in the Federal Capital Territory and receives reports of violence against persons.
- A teaching hospital’s social work department, which usually knows what is actually operating locally.
What legal help costs and what is free covers the legal routes in more detail.
Two practical points
Memorise 112. Not stored — memorised. Phones get taken, and a number in a contact list is no use in somebody else’s hands.
Teach the children. The number, the address, and what to say in what order. A child who can give an address to an operator is more useful in an emergency than almost anything else in a safety plan. How to teach it without frightening them is set out separately.
Questions people ask
Does 112 actually work?
It is free, it works on any network and from a phone without credit. Response times vary a great deal by location and in some places it is slow. It is still the first call in an emergency.
What do I say first?
The address, twice, with a landmark. Then what is happening, then whether there is a weapon or children present. If the call cuts off, the address is what still lets somebody come.
Do I need a police report before a hospital will treat me?
No. Emergency care should not be made conditional on a police report, and some treatment after a sexual assault is time critical and cannot wait for one.
Why do you not list more hotlines?
Because we cannot verify thirty numbers every month, and a number that rings out at the worst moment of someone’s life is worse than none. Ask us and we will tell you what is currently answering in your state.
Are you an emergency service?
No. We do not have a vehicle that arrives in ten minutes. Call 112 for tonight, and call us for everything after it.
If you need help now
If you are in immediate danger, call 112. To talk to HealBridge, call or send a message to +2348025170267, or use the form on our contact page. Every page on this site has a Quick Exit button at the top right, and pressing the letter E three times does the same thing.
Before you rely on anything on this page
We publish these articles so that you can understand a subject and work out what to ask for. They are written carefully and in good faith. They are still general information about how things usually work, and not advice about your situation, which we do not know.
- This is not legal advice.
- We are not a law firm. Criminal law in Nigeria is largely a state matter, the VAPP Act applies in a state only if that state adopted it, and statutory, customary and Islamic marriages are governed by different law and different courts. Two people with the same facts can have genuinely different options. Get advice from a lawyer who practises where you live — and if cost is the obstacle, ask us, because arranging that is part of what we do.
- This is not medical advice.
- Nothing here is a diagnosis and nothing here replaces being examined. Do not delay seeing a doctor, nurse or pharmacist because of something you read here, and do not start, stop or change any treatment on the strength of it. If something is time critical, go and be seen.
- This is not counselling, and it is not financial advice.
- Articles about trauma, sleep, money, debt, renting or starting a business describe what commonly helps. They are not therapy and they are not a recommendation about your own money. Speak to a counsellor, a qualified adviser or your own bank about your circumstances.
- It may be out of date, or wrong for where you are.
- Law changes, services close, numbers stop answering and practice varies by state. We correct what we find, and we cannot promise that every page is current on the day you read it. Where we do not have something confirmed, we say so rather than fill the gap.
- Reading this does not make us your lawyer or your doctor.
- No professional relationship is created by reading an article, and we cannot accept liability for decisions taken on the strength of one. What we can do is help you reach somebody who is qualified to advise you, which is what the legal and health parts of our work exist for.
- We cannot promise an outcome, and we cannot make anybody safe.
- A protection order is a piece of paper backed by an enforcement system that is inconsistent. A plan works until the day it does not. Anybody in this field promising safety is selling something, and the promise itself is dangerous because it stops people planning.
Do not let this notice stop you acting. If you are in immediate danger, call 112. If something is medically urgent, go to a hospital — you do not need a police report to be treated. And if you do not know where to start, that is a normal way to begin: use the contact page and we will take it from there.
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