The Director of the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies (CPSS) at the University of Ilorin, Prof. Gbemisola Animasawun, has called for stronger protection for healthcare workers and medical facilities across Nigeria amid growing insecurity.

Speaking with the UNILORIN Bulletin on September 1, 2026, Animasawun said attacks linked to terrorism, banditry and abductions were placing additional pressure on Nigeria’s already fragile healthcare system.

“Terrorism did not find Nigerian healthcare vulnerable by chance. It found a system already thin, and it pulled it thinner,” he said.

He said attacks on healthcare facilities and personnel rose by 42 per cent between 2023 and 2024, and by a further 26 per cent between 2024 and 2025. According to him, 91 health workers have been kidnapped since 2023, with 25 still unaccounted for.

While Borno, Yobe and Adamawa remain major hotspots, Animasawun warned that attacks on health workers were spreading to other parts of the country, citing recent incidents in Edo and Kogi states.

He said insecurity was affecting immunisation programmes, worsening the shortage of medical personnel and eroding public confidence in healthcare services. Nigeria currently has about 2.9 doctors per 10,000 people, compared with the World Health Organisation benchmark of 17 per 10,000.

Animasawun called for protected access to healthcare facilities in conflict areas, better documentation of attacks, increased funding for protection measures and a national protection framework for health workers.

He said such measures should include rapid alert and evacuation systems, compensation, insurance and psychosocial support, stressing that protecting healthcare workers should be treated as both a humanitarian and national security priority.