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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Valentine Benjamin

‘At 2am, it feels like someone’s there’: why Nigerians are choosing chatbots to give them advice and therapy

A seated black woman seen from the shoulders down looking at her phone
AI platforms offering first-line mental health support have proliferated in Nigeria, where health services are sparse and underfunded. Photograph: Yana Iskayeva/Getty Images

On a quiet evening in her Abuja hotel, Joy Adeboye, 23, sits on her bed clutching her phone, her mind racing and chest tightening. On her screen is yet another abusive message from her stalker – a man she had met nine months earlier at her church.

He had asked Adeboye out; when she declined, he began sending her intimidating, insulting and blackmailing messages on social media, as well as spreading false information about her online. There were even death threats.

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