The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed it dismay and sounded the alarm over escalating attacks targeting healthcare facilities and personnel across Nigeria’s Northwest region.
The Head of Sub-Delegation for the ICRC in Kano Roger Alhaddad revealed this critical concern during a media roundtable in Kano city.
Alhaddad stated that recent incidents in states like Zamfara, Sokoto, and Katsina painfully illustrate that health personnel are being attacked in the line of duty.
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He emphasized that the roundtable was timely, coming “when violence and insecurity continue to place enormous strain on healthcare delivery in parts of Nigeria, particularly in the North West. Every day, doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and other health workers risk their lives to save others. Yet, they too often become targets of violence, intimidation, or abduction. Health facilities have been looted, destroyed, or abandoned.”
A report captured how 64 percent of health workers experienced violence mostly in emergency units in Nigeria in 2024.
This occurs against a backdrop of over 1,000 attacks on healthcare facilities, staff, and ambulances reported in Gaza since October 2023.
The ICRC head noted that beyond the immediate loss, these attacks have a severe ripple effect, denying thousands of people essential care and further weakening an already fragile health system, ultimately leading to disability, disease, and deaths.
This global concern gave rise to the ICRC’s Healthcare in Danger (HCiD) initiative, which aims to ensure that health workers, facilities, and patients are respected and protected during armed conflict and other emergencies.