Kaduna has something most Nigerian states don’t: a federal neuropsychiatric hospital with a 24-hour emergency unit, a teaching hospital with a psychiatry department in Zaria, and a state agency whose whole job is mental health and drug use. Here is how to use them.
The main psychiatric hospital in Kaduna is the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital in Barnawa, opposite Shagari Low Cost, whose emergency unit runs 24 hours a day. Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) at Shika, Zaria, also lists psychiatry among its services, and Kaduna State’s KADSAMHSA agency coordinates mental health and substance use care across the state.
Psychiatrist, psychologist or therapist: who do you need?
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor trained in mental illness. Psychiatrists diagnose, prescribe, order tests and admit people to hospital. Psychologists, counsellors and therapists provide talking therapy and don’t prescribe.
See a hospital psychiatrist when:
- Someone is hearing voices, seeing things, or convinced of something that isn’t true, such as being poisoned or watched.
- Someone has gone days without sleep, spending or talking wildly, or has sunk so low they can’t eat, wash or get up.
- There are thoughts of suicide with a plan.
- Someone is dependent on alcohol, sedatives or opioid painkillers and wants to stop, because withdrawal can need medical supervision.
- Someone may need medication, or needs their medication reviewed.
- An older relative is becoming confused, forgetful or suspicious.
For anxiety, low mood, grief, stress and relationship trouble, a therapist is usually the right first step. Our guide to therapists, counsellors and psychiatrists explains the difference, and therapy or medication? covers how they work together.
Public hospitals
Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Kaduna
Federal psychiatric hospital. Opposite Shagari Low Cost, Barnawa, Kaduna. Postal address: P.M.B. 2181, Barnawa.
Most people call it Barnawa. It is the referral psychiatric hospital for a large part of northern Nigeria, and the one the Abuja guide sends readers to, because the FCT has no neuropsychiatric hospital of its own.
- What’s there: general adult psychiatry; a child and adolescent clinic for under-18s; drug addiction rehabilitation, which the hospital describes as detoxification, counselling, behaviour therapy and relapse prevention; psychiatry for older adults, including dementia and memory problems; forensic psychiatry; clinical psychology, including cognitive behavioural therapy and psychological assessments; occupational therapy; a clinical social welfare unit; neurology; community psychiatry; an EEG and ECT unit; and its own laboratory and pharmacy, both with NHIA sections. There is also an amenity (private-wing) service.
- Emergency: the hospital has an emergency complex that it says runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for crises such as attempted suicide, psychosis, violence or sudden changes in behaviour.
- Clinic days: not published. Ask when you register.
- New in 2026: in October the hospital launched a telepsychiatry platform and a digital card for people it treats. Its website doesn’t yet say who can use the online service or what it costs, so ask.
- Phone: 0803 272 2243. The hospital labels this number its 24-hour emergency crisis line on one page and its enquiries line, 8am to 4pm, on another. Email: info@fnphkaduna.gov.ng or cons@fnphkaduna.gov.ng.
Last checked: 3 November 2026, from fnphkaduna.gov.ng. Confirmed by phone: [DATE: fill in before publishing].
Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria
Federal teaching hospital. Shika, Zaria.
ABUTH dates from 1968 and lists psychiatry among its clinical services. Its website gives no detail about the department, its clinic days or how to reach it directly, and the hospital’s own pages show more than one phone number, so treat the number below as a switchboard and confirm before you travel.
Suggested read: Psychiatric Hospitals in Calabar: FNPH Calabar and UCTH
- What’s there: a psychiatry department within a large general teaching hospital, so physical illness, tests and emergencies are handled on the same site.
- How to get seen: teaching hospitals usually see non-emergency cases by referral. Ask the hospital whether you need one.
- Phone: 0807 145 5223, which the hospital gives on its contact page and also marks as its WhatsApp line. Email: info@abuth.gov.ng.
Last checked: 3 November 2026, from abuth.gov.ng. Confirmed by phone: [DATE: fill in before publishing].
Kaduna State: KADSAMHSA
Kaduna is one of the few states with a dedicated agency. The Kaduna State Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency (KADSAMHSA) grew out of the old Bureau for Substance Abuse, and the state government says it coordinates care for mental, neurological and substance use problems across all 23 local government areas. Its website lists psychiatric assessment for all ages, crisis counselling, and inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, and says it works through accredited facilities. It is based at the Maccido Dalhat Secretariat in Kaduna.
Two cautions. The agency doesn’t publish the addresses of its centres, and the crisis hotline printed on its website doesn’t match its own lettering, so we haven’t reproduced it. If you want to use a KADSAMHSA service, go through the hospital above first, or visit the agency’s office.
Kaduna also replaced its colonial-era Lunacy law with a State Mental Health Law in September 2025, which the state government presented as protection against discrimination for people with mental illness.
Drug and alcohol help in Kaduna
- Barnawa’s drug addiction rehabilitation service is the place for anyone who is physically dependent on alcohol, sedatives or opioid painkillers. Stopping these suddenly can be dangerous, so start with a doctor.
- NDLEA’s counselling and rehabilitation centre at the Kaduna State Command, Olusegun Obasanjo Secretariat, Yakubu Gowon Road. NDLEA’s own guidelines say its centres are for people who aren’t physically dependent, or who have finished medical withdrawal. Its free 24-hour helpline is 0800 1020 3040.
- KADSAMHSA says it runs rehabilitation and checks facilities against standards, so it is the office to ask about any private centre in the state.
A warning that matters in Kaduna. In 2019 police freed more than 300 men and boys, about 100 of them in chains, from a building in Rigasa where families had sent them for Koranic study and “rehabilitation”. That was not a rehab centre, and nothing like it is. Our guide to choosing a rehab centre explains what proper treatment looks like and the questions to ask before you hand anyone over.
What happens at your first visit
At a federal neuropsychiatric hospital the first visit usually runs like this:
- You register and get a hospital number and a folder. There is a registration fee, and any referral letter goes into the folder.
- A nurse checks your blood pressure, pulse and temperature.
- A doctor sees you, asks what has been happening and decides on the next steps: tests, medication, therapy, a clinic appointment or admission.
- You pay for any tests or medicines and collect them on site.
- You book your next appointment before you leave.
Bring someone who knows what has been happening, a list of medicines already tried, and money for registration, consultation, tests and medicines. Go early; first visits can take most of a day.
Children and teenagers
Barnawa runs a child and adolescent clinic for under-18s, and ABUTH, as a teaching hospital, can see children through its paediatric and psychiatry departments. A school counsellor or family doctor can help you prepare. Parents who need support themselves can book their own session with a family and parenting therapist.
If admission comes up
The National Mental Health Act 2021 sets the rules:
- Treatment needs informed, written consent after the options, risks and costs are explained.
- Someone admitted voluntarily who asks to leave must be allowed to go within 24 hours, unless they meet the Act’s strict conditions for involuntary care.
- Involuntary admission is allowed only in narrow circumstances, such as a serious likelihood of imminent harm, and can be appealed.
- Nobody may be chained or shackled, anywhere.
Our guide to Yaba Left explains these rights in more detail. They apply at Barnawa and at every other hospital.
Suggested read: Psychiatric Hospitals in Kano: Dawanau and AKTH
What it costs
Neither hospital publishes its fees. Public hospitals charge for registration, consultation, tests, medicines and admission, and Barnawa’s amenity service is priced separately. Ask for the cost of registration and a first consultation before you go.
If you’re on NHIA, the standard benefit package covers specialist consultations, psychiatrists included. Ward stays are capped at 21 days a year and need a referral, and higher-level services need your HMO’s approval. Barnawa has an NHIA laboratory and NHIA pharmacy, so ask its NHIA desk what your plan covers. Our guide to whether your HMO covers therapy shows what to ask.
If it’s an emergency now
- If someone is in immediate danger, call 112.
- Psychiatric emergencies: the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital’s emergency unit in Barnawa is open 24 hours. Its crisis line is 0803 272 2243. Any hospital emergency department can also help.
- To talk to someone now: Safe Place Nigeria on 0800 800 2000, free and open 24 hours. SURPIN’s line is 0800 078 7746, with a Hausa line on 0814 224 1007.
Our helplines page lists more.
Where Mytherapist.ng fits
Our therapists provide talking therapy by video, voice or chat. They don’t prescribe or admit. If you need a psychiatrist, start with the hospitals above. Therapy can run alongside psychiatric treatment, and you can find a therapist and see them online from Kaduna or Zaria. A small number of our therapists work in Hausa.
Other guides: Kano, Abuja, Lagos, and every federal and teaching hospital by state. If psychosis is part of the picture, read about schizophrenia.
Addresses and phone numbers were taken from each hospital’s own website on 3 November 2026. Last checked by phone: [DATE: fill in before publishing]. Numbers change, so call before you travel.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the psychiatric hospital in Kaduna?
The Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital is in Barnawa, opposite Shagari Low Cost. Its postal address is P.M.B. 2181, Barnawa, Kaduna.
What is the phone number of the psychiatric hospital in Kaduna?
The hospital publishes one number, 0803 272 2243, as both its 24-hour emergency crisis line and its enquiries line from 8am to 4pm.
Can I go to Barnawa without a referral?
The hospital’s emergency unit is open 24 hours, and federal neuropsychiatric hospitals generally register new people whether or not they have a referral letter. Call first to confirm how registration works now.
Does ABUTH Zaria have a psychiatric department?
Yes. ABUTH lists psychiatry among its clinical services. It doesn’t publish clinic days or a department number, so call the hospital on 0807 145 5223 and ask how to be seen.
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Is there a drug rehabilitation centre in Kaduna?
The Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital in Barnawa runs a drug addiction rehabilitation service. NDLEA has a counselling and rehabilitation centre at its state command on Yakubu Gowon Road, and KADSAMHSA, the state agency, runs rehabilitation programmes through its accredited facilities.
What is KADSAMHSA?
The Kaduna State Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency. It is the state body that coordinates mental health and substance use care, based at the Maccido Dalhat Secretariat in Kaduna.
This article is awaiting clinical review. It’s based on published research and health guidelines, and we’ll update it once a clinician has reviewed it.
