About the foundation
Six teachers, one collapsed classroom, and a refusal to wait.
Innocent Lives Aid Foundation was registered in Abuja in 2014. We are NGO/RC 118427, governed by a seven-member board and audited annually.
Our story
In April 2014, a classroom block in a village outside Abuja gave way after a week of rain. Nobody was hurt. Four hundred pupils simply stopped going to school, and no one came.
Six teachers pooled their salaries, rented two rooms and taught in shifts. That improvisation became a foundation — and the lesson it taught us became our method: the people closest to a problem already know the fix. What they lack is capital, logistics and someone who keeps their promises.
Today we run six programmes across six countries with a permanent team of 84 and more than 600 trained community volunteers. Our largest single line item is not construction — it is the stipends and training that keep local people doing the work.
Mission
To secure education, clean water, health and protection for children in communities that public services have not reached — and to hand every project to the people who live there.
Vision
A West and Central Africa where no child's prospects are decided by the accident of their postcode.
Values
Invited, not imposed. Honest about failure. Local by default. Fast in emergencies. Frugal with overheads.
Timeline
Twelve years, in milestones
2014
Founded in Abuja by six teachers after a school collapse left 400 pupils without classrooms.
2017
First solar borehole commissioned; the village water committee model is born.
2019
Emergency response unit formed after the Benue floods.
2022
Child protection desks open inside 40 partner schools.
2024
Independent audit confirms 91% programme spend ratio for the third year running.
2026
312 communities served across six countries in West and Central Africa.
Leadership
The people accountable for this work
Our board meets quarterly and publishes minutes. Programme leads are recruited from the regions they serve.
Dr. Ngozi Adeyemi
Executive Director
Public health physician, 18 years in humanitarian response.
Ibrahim Sule
Director of Programs
Former state education commissioner, leads our school rebuild work.
Grace Etim
Head of Finance & Compliance
Chartered accountant, owns our published spend reporting.
Peter Okafor
Emergency Response Lead
Coordinates 72-hour flood and displacement deployments.
Halima Bello
Child Protection Lead
Social worker, built our protection desk model.
Samuel Achebe
Community Partnerships
Negotiates the stewardship agreements behind every site.
Governance & safeguarding
How we keep ourselves honest
A seven-member independent board with no paid staff among its voting members.
Annual external audit, published in full alongside a plain-language summary.
Mandatory safeguarding training and background checks for everyone in contact with children.
A confidential whistleblowing line handled outside the management chain.