112 Emergency Hotline Fails to Connect as APC Spokesman Promotes Service on TV
Nigeria’s 112 emergency hotline came under scrutiny on Tuesday night after repeated attempts to reach the service failed during a live television broadcast, despite assurances by an All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign spokesperson that the number was operational.
The incident occurred during an appearance by Alwan Hassan on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he discussed the availability of the emergency service as one of the achievements of the APC-led administration.
During the programme, Hassan challenged the show’s anchor, Seun Okinbaloye, to dial 112 and demonstrate how Nigerians could use the service to request assistance during medical emergencies, security threats and other distress situations.
He explained that callers would be connected to emergency response centres within their locations, where operators would establish the nature of the emergency and coordinate the deployment of relevant responders.
According to him, the system could facilitate ambulance services for medical emergencies and alert the police in cases involving robbery and other security incidents.
Hassan also disclosed that the Federal Government was working towards introducing a dashboard that would allow emergency centres to identify callers’ locations automatically, eliminating the need for callers to provide their addresses.
However, the demonstration took an unexpected turn when Okinbaloye attempted to call the number several times without success.
After his initial attempt failed, the anchor remarked that the call was not connecting, prompting Hassan to insist that the line would eventually ring and be answered.
Despite further attempts, Okinbaloye informed the APC spokesperson that the number was not working.
Hassan maintained that the emergency service was functional but suggested that a network-related issue at the television station could have prevented the call from connecting.
The explanation was challenged by Okinbaloye, who pointed out that other telephone numbers dialled from the same location had connected successfully.
The anchor also questioned whether the failed demonstration could leave viewers with the impression that Hassan had exaggerated the effectiveness of the service.
The campaign spokesperson denied misleading the public, maintaining that the failure was likely caused by a temporary network glitch rather than a problem with the emergency system.
Towards the end of the discussion, Okinbaloye invited viewers to test the 112 hotline themselves and report their experiences through his X account.
He later disclosed that he had received several messages from viewers who also reported difficulties connecting to the emergency number.
The incident comes months after the National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, approved the adoption of 112 as Nigeria’s unified emergency telephone number across all levels of government and relevant agencies in July 2026.
