Suicide Hotlines and Crisis Lines in Nigeria

A helpline is a place to talk to someone when you are struggling, before or instead of a crisis. The lines on this page are answered by counsellors, trained volunteers or licensed professionals, depending on the service. If you are not in Nigeria, the worldwide list is organised by country.

Nigeria has no national suicide helpline. The federal government publishes a national suicide prevention framework and no crisis number, so the lines below are run by non-government organisations and by Lagos State. Several of them are toll-free and answer at any hour.

What you share is kept private in almost all cases; if a counsellor believes a life is in immediate danger, they may arrange urgent help. What each service costs is set out beside it below. Three of the lines here are toll-free, and where an organisation publishes no call cost we say so rather than guess.

TherapyRoute is a directory. We do not answer calls or messages ourselves, so please use the numbers below rather than contacting us if you need someone now.

CRISIS LINES, SUICIDE HOTLINES, AND HELPLINES IN NIGERIA

Each number below was checked in September 2026 at the operating organisation's own website, or at an official Nigerian government page.

Notice an error or a missing service? Please tell us so we can correct it.

Emergency numbers, 112, 999, 998 and 122

She Writes Woman, 0800 800 2000, toll-free and answered at any hour

SURPIN, Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative

Lagos Lifeline, from Lagos State, 24 hours

MANI, Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative

Asido Foundation, Ibadan

Cece Yara Child Helpline, for children

While you are waiting to be answered

If you are worried about someone else

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Emergency numbers, 112, 999, 998 and 122

Nigeria's national emergency number is 112. The Nigerian Communications Commission builds and runs the emergency communication centres behind it, and describes the arrangement on its own page: "All telecom operators will be mandated to route emergency calls through the dedicated three-digit toll free number, 112, from each state to the emergency centre within that state." An operator at the centre then contacts the agency you need, whether that is the police, an ambulance, the fire service or the road safety corps.

The Presidency confirmed the number again in April 2026, when the National Economic Council "approved the adoption of 112 as the National Emergency Number at all levels and across relevant agencies".

Emergency: 112

Police: 999

Fire service: 998

Ambulance and emergency medical care: 122, the Federal Ministry of Health's National Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System

Cost: 112 is toll-free, in the regulator's own words. No cost is published for the other three.

One honest caveat about reach. The Commission's project page is written about centres planned for all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. A later Commission press statement records centres live in 23 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with the remaining 13 in progress, and no official page we read says when the rollout finished. That is why 999, 998 and 122 are printed here beside 112 rather than instead of it.

She Writes Woman, 0800 800 2000, toll-free and answered at any hour

She Writes Woman is a Nigerian mental health organisation running a national helpline. In its own words, "A 24/7 toll-free helpline, free and unlimited teletherapy, and a digital community (including support groups) are the trifecta of mental health support we offer Nigerians." Its footer prints the same line as a standing label, "24/7 Toll-free Helpline".

The organisation's frame is rights-based rather than clinical. It says that "People with mental health conditions should be treated with dignity and liberty," and that it works to help people with lived experience "tell their own stories, co-create their solutions, and advocate for their own rights". Its executive director testified at the National Assembly during the public hearing of the Mental Health Act.

Tel: 0800 800 2000

Hours: "24/7", in the organisation's own words, printed three times across the two pages we read.

Cost: toll-free.

Languages: not published.

SURPIN, Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative

SURPIN describes itself as "the most structured and comprehensive national suicide prevention organization in Nigeria, established for the purpose of suicide prevention through research, promotion of mental well-being, crisis intervention, health education, early treatment of depression and drug abuse." Its board is made up of psychiatrists, a public health physician and a medical social worker, with zonal coordinators for Lagos, the South-West, the South-East and other zones.

Its own description of what the helpline does: "Toll-free helpline: 24/7 access to trained counselors for emotional support and crisis intervention," alongside "Counseling services: Access to professional counselors nationwide for individuals and families."

Toll-free: +234-8000787746

Tel: +234-908-021-7555

Tel: +234-903-440-0009

Tel: +234-814-224-1007

Hours: "24/7" for the toll-free line, in SURPIN's own words. It publishes no hours for the three mobile numbers.

Cost: the first line is toll-free. No cost is published for the other three.

Languages: not published.

SURPIN prints its toll-free number as one unbroken run, and it is reproduced above exactly as the organisation publishes it. If your handset will not accept it that way, dial it as a standard 0800 number.

Lagos Lifeline, from Lagos State, 24 hours

Lagos Lifeline is the helpline of Lagos MiND, Lagos State's Mental Health in Development programme. Its own page describes it as "Free, confidential counselling and psychosocial support for anyone in Nigeria, from Lagos State's Mental Health in Development programme," and says the service reaches beyond the state: "The service is available across Nigeria, so wherever you are, support is within reach."

The service page is specific about what it does. It lists "Crisis intervention, 24 hours. Speak to a licensed professional at any time for immediate support during panic attacks, suicidal thoughts or emotional distress," and separately "Suicide prevention support. Immediate intervention, safety planning, emotional support, and connection to emergency services where that's needed." It is open to anyone in a mental health crisis, to family and friends worried about someone, and to healthcare providers needing urgent guidance for a patient.

On privacy, the programme's own wording is: "All calls are confidential. We only take further action where there is an immediate risk to your safety or someone else's."

Tel: 070 0000 6463, published as the toll-free line

Tel: 020 1410 6463

WhatsApp: 090 9000 6463

Hours: "24 hours", printed on its own page as "Answering now" and as "Crisis intervention, 24 hours".

Cost: "Is the service free? Yes. There is no charge at all."

Languages: not published. The programme describes its counselling as culturally grounded without naming languages.

MANI, Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative

MANI describes itself as "Nigeria's largest youth-run and youth-focused mental health organisation," and adds that "MANI is also the largest provider of crisis support services in Nigeria, with direct support given to over 200,000 persons since setting up the service, 80% of whom are between the ages of 10 and 25." It has volunteers across all 36 states.

Its own emergency instruction is unconditional: "For urgent medical attention please call 08091116264 or 08111680686." The organisation says its call centre has "a provision to call back anyone that reaches out to the number who couldn't afford to stay on the line for as long as needed," so if your airtime runs out you can ask to be called back.

MANI is also the source of a fact worth knowing when you read this page. Writing about its own work, the organisation noted that there is no toll-free suicide hotline in Nigeria. That was true of the general adult picture when it was written. It is no longer strictly true, because SURPIN, She Writes Woman and Lagos State each publish a toll-free number today.

Tel: 08091116264

Tel: 08111680686

WhatsApp: +234 916 841 7413

Hours: not published on any MANI page we read.

Cost: the counselling is free, in the organisation's own words. It does not address call charges, and the call-back provision suggests the caller pays for the call.

Languages: not published.

Asido Foundation, Ibadan

The Asido Foundation is "a mental health advocacy nonprofit working to reshape Nigeria's perception of mental health. Through advocacy, education, and empowerment, we're working every day to make this stigma-free vision a reality one life at a time." It runs a free emotional wellness screening on its own site and organises programme pages across all six Nigerian geopolitical zones.

Its language about its reach is national, and its address is in Old Bodija, Ibadan. It publishes no sentence claiming national coverage, so we report the position rather than assert it.

Tel: +234 902 808 0416

Tel: +234 818 077 7458

WhatsApp: +234 902 808 0416

Hours: not published. The site carries a "24/7 Helpline" label in its menu, but no page states hours for the line, so we do not repeat it as a fact.

Cost: not published.

Languages: not published.

Cece Yara Child Helpline, for children

The Cece Yara Child Advocacy Centre is "a child-centred non-profit organisation to prevent child sexual abuse and provide access to care, information, protection and emergency intervention for children who are sexually abused or at risk, and their family." It runs a 24-hour child helpline alongside child-friendly advocacy centres in Lagos and Abuja, which provide counselling, medical, legal, shelter, forensic interviewing and psycho-social support, and onward referral.

Where the centre can act matters, and it publishes the limit itself: "Our phone lines are accessible to everyone in Nigeria who needs help, advice and information to report or prevent child sexual abuse. We are able to arrange for emergency intervention within Lagos State & Abuja, and currently provide referral services elsewhere in Nigeria."

On anonymity: "Our telephone helpline offers a confidential service, this means that when you call us you can speak anonymously. You do not have to give us information identifying you such as personal address, telephone number or last name."

Tel, for children: 0800 800 8001

Tel, for adults: 0700 700 7001

Hours: "24-Hour", in the centre's own heading, and "You can call us at any time."

Cost: in the centre's own words, "Calls to 0800 800 8001 are free. This line is specifically for children. Calls to 0700 700 7001 are paid, We encourage adults to use the paid line."

Languages: not published.

While you are waiting to be answered

A line that is open can still be busy, and several of the services above publish no hours at all. If you are waiting, try to stay with someone you trust, or ask someone to sit with you until the call connects.

If you have anything near you that you could use to harm yourself, put it somewhere harder to reach, or ask someone else to hold it for you. Distance and time both help.

If waiting is not possible, dial 112, or 122 for an ambulance, or go to a hospital emergency department. You do not need an appointment and you do not need to explain yourself well.

If you are worried about someone else

Ask them directly. Asking someone whether they are thinking of suicide does not put the idea there, and it often comes as a relief to be asked plainly.

Listen more than you advise. You do not need the right words, and you are not expected to fix anything.

If they are willing, offer to sit with them while they phone one of the numbers above, or to make the call together. If they are in immediate danger, treat it as you would any medical emergency.

Supporting someone through this is heavy, and it is reasonable to want support of your own. She Writes Woman and Lagos Lifeline both answer at any hour, and Lagos Lifeline says plainly that it takes calls from family and friends worried about someone.

For services in other countries, see the list of helplines and suicide hotlines worldwide.

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