Social issues

Social issues

Health

Nnewi hosts a number of institutions and places of learning and healing, which include Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) and a number of international agencies. The Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, is at the forefront of providing excellent health services to the nation. The hospital and its annexes since inception had provided specialized and comprehensive medical care to the immediate community and beyond. Its mandate also includes undergraduate and postgraduate medical and paramedical training as well as research. These services had grown from strength to strength through the years fueled by comprehensive annual plans approved by the Federal Government.

Education

The ancient city of Nnewi hosts a number of traditional and formal learning institutions and places of learning, which include a Medical University: Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) Government secondary schools: Okongwu Memorial Grammar School, Maria Regina Secondary School, Nnewi High School, Ichi Technical School (Ichi Community), Ichi Girls, Akoboezemu Community Secondary School, Anglican Girls Secondary School, Nnewi-Ichi Community Secondary School e.t.c. Private schools: Summit International School, The Good Shepherd School, New Era School, Dr Alutu’s College of Excellence School e.t.c. ,

Crime

Crime rates are low[clarification needed] but civil disputes such as land ownership and family inheritance exist. In more recent times, the market square and banks have experienced well-publicized and organized criminal attacks that have been allegedly linked to the local police. There are now open debates on reinstating a local vigilante crime-fighting group called the Bakassi Boys,[13] who had a multi-year stint in Nnewi in the late 1990s when the crime was on the increase. This group had a modus operandi that many considered barbaric but necessary – convicted thieves were killed in public by dismembering their body parts with a sharp machete and burning them alive. The activities of this group of men who had the permission of the Governor of the state was seen by the Human rights activists and civil right movement as a violation of human rights and campaigned against their practices. Recently, Nnewi is relatively peaceful except for isolated occurrences of the kidnapping of prominent local citizens for large ransoms