EXCLUSIVE: Engineer Accuses UNICEF Of Abandonment, Neglect After Suffering Severe Injuries On Official Duty

Nearly two years after surviving a devastating road accident while on official duty for UNICEF Nigeria, the engineer says he has been left to contend alone with chronic pain, recurring seizures, and financial hardship, cut off from the organisation he served for years.

For a UNICEF staff engineer identified by UN Index Number 72001863, with his name withheld for safety and professional reasons, the road that once symbolised service to vulnerable communities has become a lasting reminder of pain, neglect, and a life irreversibly altered.

The UN Index Number is a unique identification assigned to every UNICEF staff member and refers specifically to the victim in this case.

Nearly two years after surviving a devastating road accident while on official duty for UNICEF Nigeria, the engineer says he has been left to contend alone with chronic pain, recurring seizures, and financial hardship, cut off from the organisation he served for years.

The victim said he joined UNICEF on March 18, 2019, and worked across high-risk and demanding locations, including Maiduguri in Borno State, Jos in Plateau State, and Abuja. His duties required frequent travel to remote sites to oversee and assess civil engineering projects essential to UNICEF’s humanitarian interventions.

“My nature of job is to monitor and evaluate all civil engineering site projects including project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control and closure,” he stated.

That commitment nearly cost him his life on March 14, 2024.

He said he was returning from Jos after monitoring the construction of a UNICEF-supported warehouse for the Plateau State Government when the accident occurred along the Jos–Abuja Road.

“The accident happened on March 14, 2024 on the road linking Jos to Abuja… I was in a UN-marked official vehicle while UNICEF-engaged police escorts in a different vehicle provided security cover,” he recalled.

He was evacuated from the scene and rushed for emergency medical treatment, having sustained severe injuries and trauma. Initially, his medical expenses were covered by CIGNA, UNICEF’s staff insurance provider, funded through deductions from his salary alongside organisational contributions.

“They settled the hospital bills for my treatment until April 30, 2025,” he said.

However, when the insurance coverage ended, the engineer said institutional support ended with it. According to him, communication, concern, and assistance from UNICEF ceased entirely.

“Since I was discharged from the hospital, I've been having seizures,” he said, noting that his condition deteriorated after his discharge.

Medical reports from Nizamiye Hospital Limited in Abuja detailed the extent of his injuries. A report dated June 25, 2024, documented severe neck and right shoulder pain, limited mobility, and imaging results indicating “right shoulder subacromial impingement syndrome” and a “rotator cuff partial muscle tear.”

Doctors concluded that non-surgical treatment would be ineffective.

“Medical treatment and conservative treatment cannot yield any good response in this kind of shoulder problem,” the hospital stated, recommending multiple surgical procedures estimated at ₦8.956 million.

In a subsequent medical report dated November 11, 2025, the hospital stated that the victim developed seizures following brain surgery required due to injuries sustained in the accident.

“After surgery he developed seizures which he is under antiepilectic medications… Even though the patient was put under antiepilectic drugs, still he was having seizures,” the report said.

Doctors also advised that he should no longer drive due to the risk of sudden seizures, a restriction that has significantly limited his independence and mobility.

As his health declined, his professional career also unraveled. His contract, which had been renewed in Abuja on March 9, 2023, was not extended following the accident.

“UNICEF has not paid my salary or provided any compensation since I was injured in the line of duty,” he said.

He further alleged that the work he carried out between March 15 and April 9, 2025, despite his injuries and ongoing medical treatment, was never remunerated.

“Even the work I did… prior to the non-renewal of my contract was not paid for,” he said.

Apart from pension contributions remitted through his pension administrators, he said he received no form of post-service assistance.

“There has been no show of concern by UNICEF to my well-being, either financially or humanly since the non-renewal of the contract,” he said.

He added that UNICEF later engaged two construction specialists after his accident, while he remained injured, unemployed, and struggling to cope.

Today, his life revolves around hospital visits, medications, and unsuccessful job applications. He disclosed that he was once interviewed for the position of Managing Director at a multinational organisation, but the opportunity did not materialise due to his medical condition.

“I have been advised by doctors not to drive again as a result of the accident,” he said, adding that his right shoulder remains stiff, painful, and may require further surgery.

For a professional who once travelled extensively across Nigeria to ensure the delivery of critical infrastructure projects, the silence he now faces is profound. While the accident shattered his body, he said it was the absence of compassion afterward that caused the deepest wound.

Speaking to SaharaReporters, the injured engineer appealed to UNICEF to intervene in his case, stating that the neglect he has suffered after years of service and a serious injury sustained while representing the organisation’s interests has drastically altered the course of his life.