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Problem Gambling Help

If you need help right now

0700 BETS NG — the Problem Gamblers Hotline runs weekdays 8am-5pm. Call for confidential support. You do not have to give your name.

Support organisations

What to expect when you call

  • Confidentiality. Your name is not required.
  • A short initial conversation about what you are going through.
  • A referral to local counselling if you want it.
  • Practical suggestions for account blocks and money management.

If you are supporting someone

Family members and friends can call these helplines too. You do not need to wait for the person who is struggling to ask first.

If you think you have a problem

You are not broken. Gambling addiction is a well-documented condition that responds to treatment. The hardest step is the first one: naming it.

Try the PGSI (Problem Gambling Severity Index) self-test — it's a nine-question screen, takes four minutes, and is free online through Gamble Alert NG.

Do not wait until you have lost everything. The earlier the intervention, the faster the recovery.

Free support in Nigeria

Bet9ja Problem Gamblers Hotline — 01-700-2387 7233. 24/7, free, confidential.

Gamble Alert NG — https://gamblealert.org. Phone counselling, WhatsApp groups, in-person Lagos meetups.

GamSafe Nigeria — https://gamsafe.org. Family-support programmes, workshops.

Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba Lagos — walk-in clinic for behavioural addiction. Free. Monday and Thursday mornings.

Neuropsychiatric Hospital Aro, Abeokuta — inpatient behavioural addiction ward, referral from Yaba or from a GP.

WhatsApp GA Nigeria — Gamblers Anonymous Nigeria runs online meetings Monday, Wednesday and Saturday evenings. Contact via the Gamble Alert website.

Paid support if you can afford it

Private psychiatrists in Lagos with behavioural-addiction experience typically charge N15,000 to N35,000 per session. Ask for someone who has treated gambling addiction specifically, not just general anxiety.

Onlook Clinic, Victoria Island — eight-session cognitive-behavioural therapy programme for problem gambling.

Redeemers Counselling Services — lower-cost option, faith-based (Christian), with a structured 12-step module adapted from GA.

For family and friends

GamAnon Nigeria — a family-and-friends group that runs alongside GA meetings. Evening calls, free.

Read ‘Losing Mariposa’ (Roberta Rich) or ‘Overcoming Compulsive Gambling’ (Philip Mawer) for a non-clinical primer on what the person you care about is going through.

Do not pay their debts for them. Do make sure the household basics — rent, food, school fees — are safe in an account they cannot access.

Immediate steps you can take today

Self-exclude on every betting app you use. Write the list on paper.

Install Gamban or BetBlocker on every phone and laptop.

Hand your debit card to a trusted family member.

Delete the apps. Not log out — delete.

Tell one person. Just one. Today.