A bill seeking to decriminalise attempted suicide in Nigeria has passed second reading in the Senate, despite Senate President Godswill Akpabio insisting that people who survive suicide attempts should remain liable to imprisonment. during Tuesday’s plenary after a majority of senators supported it through a voice vote. The bill was subsequently referred to the Senate Committees on Health (Secondary and Tertiary) and Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters for further legislative action.
The bill, sponsored the senator representing Cross River South Senatorial District, Asuquo Ekpenyong, seeks to decriminalise attempted suicide and establish a legal framework for suicide prevention, treatment and support for survivors of suicide attempts. It also seeks to address the conflict between existing criminal laws that punish attempted suicide and the National Mental Health Act, which recognises the need for medical intervention in mental health emergencies.
Leading the debate on the bill, Mr Ekpenyong argued that while the National Mental Health Act recognises attempted suicide as a psychiatric emergency requiring treatment, Section 327 of the Criminal Code and Section 231 of the Penal Code criminalise the act. The senator manitained that the bill seeks to replace punitive measures with appropriate medical assessment, treatment and continuing support for survivors of suicide attempts.
He warned that criminalising attempted suicide could discourage people from seeking help, encourage families to conceal such incidents and prevent health workers from reporting cases promptly. He added that treating suicide attempts as criminal offences could deepen the stigma surrounding mental health conditions and undermine efforts to obtain reliable data for national suicide prevention programmes.
Dayo Faduyile, the senator for Ondo South and a medical doctor, said attempted suicide should be treated as a medical emergency rather than a criminal offence.