The Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, has revealed that approximately 1,300 applicants in the recent security services recruitment exercise tested positive for HIV during the mandatory medical screening.
Speaking before Parliament’s Assurances Committee on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, the Minister said the discovery highlighted the need for a careful and ethical approach to communicating sensitive medical information to applicants.
According to him, the government deliberately chose not to send medical results directly to affected individuals without first providing appropriate counselling and orientation.
“In the recent recruitment, we had, I think, about 1,300 or so that were on HIV. And then they said, can you imagine sending somebody a result without telling the person that you have HIV? I mean, that’s not the procedure. The person has to go through some orientation,” Muntaka told the committee.
To safeguard applicants’ privacy, the Minister explained that those who were unsuccessful in the recruitment process were provided with contact details they could use to seek clarification on the reasons for their disqualification.
“One of the things that we did was simply to say that when you get disqualified, you are given a contact to reach out if you want to know why you were disqualified,” he said.
Muntaka noted that the medical screening identified several health conditions beyond HIV, including hepatitis B, heart-related illnesses, mental health conditions, previous major surgeries, and drug-related issues.
He stressed that many of the conditions detected are treatable and encouraged unsuccessful applicants to obtain their medical results so they can seek appropriate medical care.
“Some of the things that we realised are treatable. People need to know and then also get treatment so that subsequent recruitment they could join,” he stated.
The Interior Minister further urged applicants not to ignore the opportunity to learn about their health status.
“It may be something minor, it may be something major. Whichever it is, if you get to know, it will be of great interest to you,” he added.
