Vaccination Gone Wrong: Nigerian Parents Share Worries and Frustrations

Parents are becoming increasingly frustrated and anxious about their children’s alleged developmental regression after routine vaccines, which raises challenging issues at the nexus of scientific data, parental experience, and public health.

Gift Oba addresses the parents’ concerns, the opinions of medical professionals, and the wider consequences for vaccine confidence in Nigeria in this article.

For five-year-old Samson (no real name), it’s a huge, reverberating stillness when the world speaks in unison.

The tiny kid, who lives with his parents in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, knows the words for “mama” and “dada,” but the phrases are stuck behind a wall of sound he cannot pull through.

His brow furrows, he stretches his palm, and his cry turns into the only dictionary he has rather than requesting his favorite toy.

A boy who constantly stares at the ceiling fan and rotates his body in a rhythmic 360-degree dance with its blades took the place of the child who used to sing “Halleluyah” and engage with the outside world.

For his mother, Mrs. Iraboh (not actual name) the bright recordings of his early years are terrible evidence of a “before” and a “after.” Up to one significant event—the Measles 2 vaccination—she maintained that her son was doing well.

She stated, “He was okay, until I collected the vaccine,” describing how her healthy son abruptly lost the capacity to repeat phrases and stopped reacting to his name.

Her experience offers a glimpse into a developing, intricate phenomenon where parental fear and developmental regression collide.

Mothers like Mrs. Irabo are undertaking their own study because they believe that vaccination records and heavy metals are the reason why their children’s voices vanished, even though medical science describes delayed speech as a result of hearing loss, heredity, or underlying illnesses like autism.

When a child’s speech and language development is slower than is normally predicted for their age, it is referred to as delayed speech. Numerous reasons, including hearing loss, developmental delays, environmental factors (such lack of stimulation), and genetic susceptibility, may contribute to this.

According to research, children with delayed speech may struggle to articulate words, comprehend language, or communicate properly. This issue can be brought on by a number of things, including a transitory lag, a hearing impairment, an underlying illness like autism, or an intellectual disability.

Before we had the measles 2 vaccine, my son was well.

When her child was one year and three months old, the mother of two said that she saw a regression in him following the vaccination, including his incapacity to converse like other kids his age.

“Thursday, November 12, 2020, keeps flashing in my head, I was already 42 weeks pregnant and didn’t fall into labor, on getting to the hospital, I was induced and labored for 15 hours, before they carried out an emergency Cesarean section,” she recalls.

Nevertheless, my child was born healthily. He interacted with people and was OK, just like any other youngster, until I had the measles 2 vaccination. He began staring nonstop, stopped talking, and was unable to repeat sentences. When we called his name, he would not answer.

He would follow everything that was moving; for instance, he would focus on our ceiling fan and spin 360 degrees with the blade. Even when he was on the verge of falling, he wouldn’t stop until I held him.

Before the vaccine went “wrong,” our correspondent saw the child making sounds and pronouncing phrases like “mama” and “halleluyah” in a little video that the mother had played.

According to those recordings, he was OK and communicating with others, but following the vaccination, he stopped speaking and was unable to repeat anything. Because the vaccine includes heavy metal, I was required to detox him after collecting it, I discovered after doing some research,” she added.

Another mother, Lisa Benjamin, who goes by Lisa Motherhood & lifestyle on TikTok, wrote about her experience and claimed that her daughter developed autism as a result of the vaccination.

“What if these kids react differently to these vaccines? What if it affects some children and not others?” she asked in the video.

“My daughter used to react to her name; she was fine and met all of her milestones until she was a year old, at which point I began to notice some differences.”

When reached, she said that delayed speech, tiptoeing, stimming, not responding to her name, and disparities in social interaction with others were among the early indicators.

“My kid is three years old.” Early indicators that I observed included delayed speech, not answering her name, tiptoeing, stimming, and social interaction variances from peers. As she grew older, these symptoms became more apparent, she added.

Similar experiences were reported by some parents on Lisa Benjamin’s TikTok thread, who connected their child’s autism diagnosis to regression following immunization.

“She ain’t lying, my child was verbal until his one-year vaccination and all of a sudden, he regressed and has been diagnosed with autism,” stated OluwaMayokun Hamdallah.

“This happened to my son, he was already repeating words at 8 months there about saying goodbye and hello at 11 months before we collected measles 2 immunization,” wrote a different user using by the handle @Oritoke. And that’s where the issue started; after he became ill, we saw regression.

“After recovery he stopped answering to his name, wasn’t talking and started tilting his neck to one side. He was even tiptoeing, something he had never done before.

Likewise, @Ugonma said, “Hello, mom. My niece too experienced this; at the age of seven months, she abruptly stopped reacting to her name, but we were able to detect it in time. At one year and six months, she was energetic and nonverbal. We had to get her a specialized tutor and conduct a lot of heavy metal detoxification.

“Basically what we did was half fill her bath tub with warm water,” Ugonma stated as she described the detoxification procedure. Then add epsom salt and baking soda and put her in there for about 10mins (she had her toys so she was just playing).

It was one of the things that was advised, so we did that two or three times a week at night. We’re not sure if that was a contributing factor, but it was one of the actions we took.

Twins in Lagos die 24 hours after receiving a vaccine

Samuel Alozie, a 30-year-old father, claimed earlier this month that his nine-month-old twin boys died as a result of obtaining vaccinations from a basic healthcare facility in the Ajanybadi neighborhood of the Ojo local government in Lagos State.

Alozie, who goes by Promise Samuel on TikTok, said that his twins, Testimony and Timothy, passed away early on Christmas Day, December 25, 2025, after he took them for a routine immunization early on December 24, 2025.

He claims that his children became extremely weak right after the injections, and even though he gave them paracetamol as the nurse had suggested, their fever kept rising till they lost the ghost.

He said that they were given phony, out-of-date, or improper medications.

Alozie stated, “The immunization was administered in the morning on December 24th. They passed away early on December 25. They were really feeble on the 24th following the injection, and I gave them paracetamol because the nurse advised me to do so if the temperature persisted.

“I, and my wife, after we left the health centre, went home and gave the two of them paracetamol, which didn’t solve anything. They both passed away simultaneously on the 25th after my wife bathed them in cold water.

“The worst part is that two of them were so weakened by the drug that they were unable to play, eat, or talk as they used to, like they couldn’t disturb.”

In response, Ibrahim Mustafa, Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Primary Health Care Board, stated that a post-mortem examination had been performed to ascertain the true reason of their death and that investigations were still ongoing.

Mustafa acknowledged that the kids had received vaccinations, but he maintained that there was no proof that this was the reason behind their demise.

We regularly administer vaccinations. Since the beginning of time, we have administered immunizations. Indeed, the kids had a vaccination, but we don’t believe it was the cause of their demise.

“The only thing that can show what caused this thing is the post-mortem and toxicology tests were also being carried out following the allegations raised by the children’s father,” he added.

Mothers are starting to get frustrated

According to Mrs. Irabo, raising a child with delayed speech is emotionally taxing and necessitates patience to prevent frustration.

She claims that when her son has an urgent need, such as to use the restroom, he will either scream loudly or start dancing while shaking his waist.

The hardest thing, according to Mrs. Benjamin, is not being able to grasp her daughter’s demands, which causes her to have angry outbursts because she is still unable to communicate herself.

“The most difficult part has been not always being able to fully understand my daughter because she cannot yet express herself, which sometimes leads to meltdowns born out of frustration,” she stated.

“Dealing with societal misunderstanding and navigating the uncertainty, particularly not knowing how quickly progress will come, has been challenging.”

“I cope by continuously educating myself, advocating for my child, and celebrating small milestones,” she shared as her coping mechanism.

Mrs. Benjamin disclosed that she had also started to be deliberate about her child’s meals, establishing basic routines that make her feel secure and in control, encouraging communication through play and repetition, and paying careful attention to what upsets or calms her.

She said, “It’s a hands-on process that calls for patience, consistency, and a lot of trial and error.”

Parents implore the government to provide inexpensive services and favorable schools.

Some of the parents have lamented the expense and weariness of employing speech therapists for their kids, pleading with the government at all levels to take all necessary steps to provide a school atmosphere that is suitable for kids with special needs.

Additionally, they argued that policies promoting inclusive education, therapy financing, and caregiver support would significantly benefit families and urged the government and community to raise awareness, lessen stigma, and promote access to reasonably priced early intervention treatments.

“Autism is not a one-size-fits-all condition, nor is it a sign of poor parenting.

Children with autism are not less than others; they just experience and engage with the world differently. With compassion, understanding, patience, and the right kind of care, they may thrive. Empathy and inclusivity have a significant impact, Mrs. Benjamin claimed.

Expert: Children are saved by vaccines; they are not harmed.

Dr. Adekunle Saheed Adediran, a consultant pediatrician and head of clinical services at the Federal Medical Center Abeokuta, has denied that vaccinations have harmed or killed children.

He emphasized that children’s delayed speech or autism are not caused by the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine, maintaining that immunization avoids death and impairments such as blindness, deafness, speech difficulties, paralysis, and more.

In a poor country like Nigeria, where there are many children under five, a high prevalence of infectious diseases, and few medical facilities, Dr. Adediran argued that the vaccine had helped reduce childhood morbidity and mortality.

“In my three decades of practice, I’ve had no reason to even remotely link these vaccines to delayed speech or autism,” he stated.

Global immunization efforts have saved an estimated 154 million lives over the past 50 years, or six lives every minute of every year, according to a 2024 World Health Organization (WHO) assessment published by The Lancet.

The measles vaccination, which accounted for 60% of the lives saved as a result of immunization, was found to have the greatest effect on lowering infant mortality among the vaccines included in the study.

According to Dr. Adediran, national health authorities continuously monitor the safety of vaccines after they are introduced, ready to identify and address any issues. Before any vaccine is launched, it is put through rigorous testing through several clinical trial phases to guarantee it is safe and effective.

“What could cause a child’s development to be delayed?”

The consultant pediatrician made the point that a newborn’s growth is largely dependent on the availability of nutrient-rich calories, and that their physical and mental development will suffer if these calories are lacking.

He continued by saying that excessive screen time in infants and young children can be linked to delayed speech and language development. He emphasized that although there are many contributing factors, any child experiencing delayed milestones should see a pediatrician for a comprehensive evaluation because they are qualified to determine the cause.

“Proper nutrition no doubt promotes optimal growth and development in children: exclusive breastfeeding from birth till 6 months of age, introduction of adequate complementary feeding from 6 months and continued breastfeeding for 2 years and beyond.

“Delayed speech and language development in newborns and young children may be linked to excessive screen use. Research on toddlers has proven this.

“Real-world interactions with adults are the best way for children to learn, and passive screen time does not offer this.” According to him, young children’s screen time should be restricted and accompanied by an adult who actively engages the child by explaining and discussing things with them while encouraging positive interaction.

In the meantime, Dr. Adediran urged the media to assist in disseminating accurate vaccine information in order to combat misinformation and suggested that immunization education be incorporated into regular hospital health talks, particularly during antenatal care for pregnant women. He believed that this would give them the chance to ask questions and address concerns in a transparent manner.