Nigeria
Helplines and statutory routes for Nigeria, home to a large share of the catalogue's African entries — prophetic-apostolic churches, prosperity ministries, and the Aladura family.
Nigeria's statutory routes for organisational abuse run through the National Human Rights Commission (complaints about rights violations, including by religious bodies), NAPTIP (the anti-trafficking agency, relevant where groups move members across borders or into forced labour), and state-level domestic and sexual violence agencies. Mental-health crisis support is still largely NGO-run, with the Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative the most established national line.
There is no government cult-monitoring body; church registration runs through the Corporate Affairs Commission as incorporated trustees, which provides a paper trail but little oversight. The Mirabel Centre (Nigeria's first sexual-assault referral centre) is the strongest Lagos-area specialist service.
If you are in immediate danger
- Emergency services· 24/7112National emergency number (police, fire, ambulance) — coverage varies by state.
What situation are you in?
If you are worried about someone in a high-control group
Sustain low-pressure contact. Learn the specific group. Avoid confrontation. Position yourself as a soft landing. The /guides/what-to-do-if-loved-one-joined-a-cult guide covers the long version. Loved-one guide →
If you are inside a high-control group
Talk to a single trusted person outside the group. Open a group-invisible communication channel. Begin mapping financial, housing, and employment dependencies. The leaving guide has the longer version. Leaving guide →
If you recently left
Give yourself a long enough horizon for recovery. Religious-trauma-aware therapy materially helps. Build ordinary relationships outside the tradition. Rebuild-identity guide →
If children are involved
Children's situations are not adult-exit-planning. Statutory child-safeguarding helplines and family-law specialists are the appropriate route. Children guide →
If money, documents, or housing are controlled
Document control overlaps with trafficking and domestic-abuse frameworks. The specialist helplines listed on this page are the right first call. Document-control guide →
Domestic abuse and coercive control
- Mirabel Centre (Lagos)Nigeria's first sexual-assault referral centre — free medical, forensic, and counselling support for survivors of sexual violence.
Modern slavery and trafficking
- NAPTIP — National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in PersonsFederal agency for trafficking and forced-labour cases; receives reports where groups move members across borders, hold documents, or extract unpaid labour.
Mental-health crisis
- Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI)Youth-led mental-health organisation running a national crisis and counselling line plus peer-support referrals.
Cult-recovery networks
- ICSA (international)No dedicated Nigerian cult-recovery organisation is established in the public record; ICSA's international directory and helpline are the fallback.
Legal and safeguarding routes
- National Human Rights CommissionStatutory complaints body for rights violations — including confinement, forced marriage, and abuse inside religious organisations — with state offices nationwide.
Printable quick-reference checklist
- If immediate danger: 112.
- Sexual violence (Lagos): Mirabel Centre.
- Trafficking, document seizure, or forced labour: NAPTIP.
- Mental-health crisis: Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative.
- Rights violations by an organisation: National Human Rights Commission.
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