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The short answer
Section 20 of the National Health Act 2014 says a health care provider, health worker or health establishment shall not refuse a person emergency medical treatment for any reason, with a fine of ₦100,000, up to six months in prison, or both. The Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshots Act 2017 adds that gunshot victims must be received with or without police clearance and with or without an initial deposit. Neither law makes the care free: the hospital can still bill once the emergency is treated.
The call usually comes late at night. A parent has collapsed, a sibling has been in a road accident, and the hospital will not start treatment until someone pays. From abroad you have a phone, a banking app and very little time. Knowing what the law says helps you push back calmly, and knowing its limits helps you decide when paying a deposit anyway is the faster route to care.
What the National Health Act says
The National Health Act was signed into law in December 2014. As quoted by Blueprint in its October 2023 report on the death of a robbery victim in Abuja, section 20(1) provides that a health care provider, health worker or health establishment shall not refuse a person emergency medical treatment for any reason. Section 20(2) makes breach an offence, punishable on conviction by a fine of ₦100,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both.
Three points follow from that wording:
- It covers every provider: public and private hospitals, clinics and individual health workers.
- It is about refusing emergency treatment. A demand for a deposit that delays or blocks emergency care is, in effect, a refusal, which is how lawyers quoted by The Guardian in 2022 describe it.
- It does not say emergency care is free, and it does not stop a hospital billing for treatment once the patient is stable.
The Gunshot Act 2017
The Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshots Act 2017 was passed after years of reports of gunshot victims turned away while hospitals waited for police clearance. LawPavilion's summary of the Act (November 2023) sets out its main duties:
- Every hospital, public or private, must accept a gunshot victim for immediate and adequate treatment, with or without police clearance.
- The victim must be received with or without an initial monetary deposit.
- The hospital must report to the nearest police station within two hours of starting treatment, and police may not question the victim at the hospital until the medical director certifies them fit.
- Relatives must be told within 24 hours of the hospital learning who the victim is.
The same summary lists penalties, including a ₦100,000 fine for a hospital that fails to report and, where a failure of duty causes an unnecessary death, a fine of ₦500,000, five years' imprisonment, or both. The summary is a secondary source and notes its own section references are not always consistent, so anyone relying on the Act in a dispute should ask a lawyer to work from the official text.
The police report myth
Many hospitals still ask for a police report before treating injuries. Blueprint traces this to section 4(2) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act 1990, which requires anyone who treats a person suspected of having bullet wounds to report it to the police immediately. That is a duty to report, not a condition for treating. The 2017 Act makes the order clear: treat first, report within two hours.
What the law does not settle
The law is clear on refusal but silent on several things families abroad worry about:
- Who pays
- The patient or family still owes the bill. LawPavilion's summary of the Gunshot Act mentions no state fund that reimburses hospitals.
- How much a deposit can be
- No law sets a ceiling on deposits for non-emergency or follow-on care.
- What counts as an emergency
- The wording quoted does not define it. A collapse, heavy bleeding or a road accident are the obvious cases; planned surgery is not.
- How fast it is enforced
- A prosecution or complaint comes after the event. It does not get treatment started tonight.
What to do from abroad, in order
- Ask whoever is at the hospital to tell the staff, politely and clearly, that emergency treatment cannot lawfully be refused and, for gunshot injuries, that no deposit or police report is needed first.
- Ask to speak to the doctor or nurse in charge, not the cashier. The decision to treat is clinical.
- If they still insist, decide quickly whether paying is the faster route. A life matters more than winning the argument. Pay the hospital's own account, never a staff member's personal account, and ask for a receipt in the hospital's name.
- Keep a record: names, times, what was said, what was paid and to whom. Photographs of notices and receipts help.
- Once the patient is safe, complain in writing to the hospital management. The FCCPC and the FCT Health Secretariat both opened investigations in the Abuja case reported by Blueprint, which shows regulators do act on refusals that become public.
Where Pryme fits
If you hold naira in a Pryme account, you can send to the hospital's own Nigerian account from wherever you live; the app shows the rate and the fee before you approve. A verifiable receipt from VerifyDoc.ai gives you a record of exactly what was paid, which helps if you later dispute a bill. For the bill itself, see paying a hospital bill in Nigeria from abroad, and for getting the patient there, arranging an ambulance from abroad.
Questions people ask
Can a hospital in Nigeria refuse emergency treatment because there is no deposit?
Section 20 of the National Health Act 2014 says no provider may refuse emergency medical treatment for any reason. Breach can mean a ₦100,000 fine, up to six months in prison, or both.
Do I need a police report before a hospital treats a gunshot or accident victim?
No. The Gunshot Act 2017 says hospitals must treat gunshot victims with or without police clearance and report to police within two hours of starting treatment.
Is emergency treatment free in Nigeria?
No. The law stops hospitals refusing emergency care. It does not cancel the bill, which the family can still be asked to pay once the patient is stable.
Where do I complain if a hospital refused treatment?
Start with the hospital management in writing. In a 2023 Abuja case, the FCCPC and the FCT Health Secretariat opened investigations. A lawyer can advise on further steps.
Sources
- Blueprint: Abuja 'one chance' victim: what does the law say about police report? (4 Oct 2023) · accessed Oct 2026
- LawPavilion: Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshot Act 2017, 14 things to note (3 Nov 2023) · accessed Oct 2026
- The Guardian (Nigeria): Medical emergencies, examining citizens' right to treatment (27 Sep 2022) · accessed Oct 2026
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