LAGOS/Nigeria: Mental health advocacy groups have welcomed the Federal Executive Council’s decision to seek the removal of criminal penalties for attempted suicide, but say the proposed legal change must be followed by stronger institutions and a comprehensive national suicide prevention framework.
The Nigerian Mental Health and Nigeria Suicide Prevention Advocacy Working Group said the reform would represent an important shift from treating people who survive suicide attempts as offenders to recognising them as individuals in need of medical and psychological support.
The groups made the position known in a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday following the Federal Executive Council’s approval of an amendment to the National Mental Health Act 2021.
They commended the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, and the Federal Government for advancing the reform, while urging the National Assembly to act promptly on the proposed amendment.
The Federal Government had said the amendment would be transmitted to the National Assembly for consideration. The move is intended to resolve the conflict between existing criminal provisions on attempted suicide and the health-centred approach established under the Mental Health Act.
Founder of Nigerian Mental Health, Chime Asonye, said people who survive suicide attempts should be directed towards professional care rather than prosecution.
“A person who survives a suicide attempt needs a clinician, not a charge sheet. The Council has now said so, and that matters,” Asonye said.
He, however, cautioned that changing the law would not by itself address the underlying challenges surrounding suicide and mental health in Nigeria.
Asonye said the Department of Mental Health Services provided for under the National Mental Health Act had yet to be established, warning that the institutional gap could undermine the government’s broader objective of reducing suicide deaths and attempts.
“The Minister’s target of reducing suicide deaths and attempts by 15 per cent by 2030 will not be met by repealing a law alone,” he said.
The advocacy groups also called on the National Assembly to give priority to the National Suicide Prevention Bill 2024, which they said should complement the proposed amendment to the Mental Health Act.
They said the legislation should establish a stronger framework for prevention, including reliable data collection, crisis intervention, dedicated funding and specialised training for healthcare workers and first responders.
Prof. Taiwo Lateef Sheikh, convener of the Nigeria Suicide Prevention Advocacy Working Group, said the two legislative measures should be regarded as parts of the same reform process.
According to him, removing criminal sanctions without putting effective prevention and support systems in place would leave a major gap in the country’s response to suicide.
“The amendment and the National Suicide Prevention Bill are two halves of one reform: one removes the punishment, the other builds what should be there instead,” Sheikh said.
“Passing one without the other leaves the work unfinished.”
He urged lawmakers to consider both measures during the current legislative session, warning that prolonged delays would continue to leave vulnerable people without adequate support.
The groups further called on the Federal Government to establish and adequately fund the Department of Mental Health Services provided for in the 2021 Act.
They also urged the Ministries of Health and Justice to make the proposed amendment available for public scrutiny, arguing that legislative reform should be accompanied by practical changes in the way police, hospitals and communities respond to people experiencing suicidal distress.
The latest development comes as the Federal Government moves to change Nigeria’s legal approach to attempted suicide. Health Minister Ali Pate said the proposed reform is intended to shift the response from punishment towards treatment, care, rehabilitation and psychosocial support.
For the advocacy groups, however, the proposed decriminalisation is only the beginning. They want the government and lawmakers to use the reform to build a broader system capable of identifying people at risk, providing timely intervention and ensuring that survivors receive the support needed to recover.
