Why National Assembly Must Fast-Track Decriminalisation Of Attempted Suicide

At the 80th United Nations General Assembly High-Level Political Declaration Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental Health, Nigeria reaffirmed its global commitments to increase access to mental health services for millions of citizens and to move away from punitive suicide laws. This important step saw the country join the global movement that views attempted suicide as a public health and mental health concern, not a criminal offense.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 700,000 people commit suicide globally each year, making it the second leading cause of death for young people. WHO’s position is clear: suicide is fundamentally a public health problem, not a crime, and decriminalizing attempted suicide is a proven, evidence-based intervention necessary to reduce mortality.
Ghana has already decriminalized attempted suicide in Africa and is now building its response to suicide prevention and mental health around a more supportive framework. For example, Kenya has progressed through judicial and legislative debates on reform, whereas many countries on the continent are still deliberating laws that remain from the former legal systems. In Botswana, as in some other African countries, attempted suicide is not a criminal offense.

The country is among the few on the continent with the most recent legislation in this regard, having repealed the Lunacy Act of 1958 and introduced the National Mental Health Act in 2022. But the missing piece is the decriminalization of attempted. This provides an opportunity for Nigeria to not only learn from global best practices, but also to strengthen her position as a leading African voice for mental health reforms.

People in their lowest moment have been subjected to double jeopardy for decades in Nigeria, suffering extreme psychological distress and then threatened under Section 327 of the Criminal Code Act in the South or Section 231 of the Penal Code in the North to up to one year in prison for a failed suicide attempt.

On December 28, 2022 the former President Muhammadu Buhari gave presidential assent to the landmark National Mental Health Act 2021, which marked a turning point for the path toward mental health legislative reforms in Nigeria. This landmark legislation repealed the obsolete Lunacy Act of 1958 and created a rights-based framework prohibiting disenfranchisement and requiring the development of a specific national suicide prevention strategy.

In this legislative context, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, headed by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, launched the National Suicide Prevention Strategic Framework (2023–2030) in November 2023. The strategy is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including a national target to reduce the suicide mortality rate by 15 per cent by 2030. One of the key policy actions to achieve this is the decriminalization of attempted suicide.

Recognizing that legal reform needs to connect health policy with statutory law, the Ministry of Health joined forces with the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation to launch the National Taskforce on the Decriminalization of Attempted Suicide on World Mental Health Day in October 2024. The taskforce, chaired by health law authority, Professor Cheluchi Onyemelukwe, and with Dr Ojo Tunde Masseyferguson, the National Coordinator, National Mental Health Program at the Federal Ministry of Health as the secretary, comprises professional associations, civil society organizations, people with lived experience and key government agencies. It was tasked with conducting national stakeholder engagements, debunking socio-cultural and religious myths and charting an actionable path forward.

The task force acknowledged that suicide is greatly affected by culture, religion and social beliefs. It thus embarked on consultations and national conversations with multiple stakeholders, including religious leaders and people with diverse views on the issue. These engagements were important as some of the proponents of criminalization had argued that punishment could be a deterrent and reinforce the sanctity of life. But the emerging public health position was that punishment does not address the underlying distress that may have led to the attempt.

The campaign centered on one simple but powerful principle: people in distress need help, not handcuffs. The task force concluded that the most efficient and politically feasible approach to the abrogation of the punitive articles of the Criminal and Penal Codes was a targeted executive bill amending the National Mental Health Act. This momentum reached a historic high-water mark when the Federal Executive Council (FEC) officially threw its full weight behind the policy, approving the proposed amendment bill for transmission to the legislature on the 21st of August, 2026. “This is a major milestone but far from the end of the road.

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Decriminalizing attempted suicide will change the mental health landscape of Nigeria by replacing fear with help and compassionate care. Under the legacy criminalization framework, people in serious distress are forced to conceal their struggles under the threat of police arrest, prosecution and social exile. Decriminalization creates a safe environment where survivors can come forward to receive medical, psychological and social support without fear of penalty. This also improves public health surveillance by removing legal sanctions and providing accurate data for national planning, resource allocation for healthcare and targeted suicide prevention efforts across the country.

But executive approval isn’t the end of the road. The proposal still needs to be passed through legislative processes in both the Senate and the House of Representatives before Nigeria can completely remove provisions criminalizing an unsuccessful attempt to take one’s life. This is a chance for the National Assembly to bring to conclusion a reform which has already gone through years of policy development, consultation and inter-ministerial engagement.

There is no request for Nigeria to re-invent its entire mental health architecture. The country already has a National Mental Health Act . It has a National Mental Health Policy” It has a National Suicide Prevention Strategy Framework, The urgent legislative request is a specific amendment to ensure that suicide attempts are no longer criminalized .

Worries about what happens after decriminalization have also been considered. The current strategic framework already identifies responsibilities for prevention, screening, service delivery and intervention. The proposed amendment also provides for regulatory powers to strengthen the post-decriminalisation response.

As the approval heads to the National Assembly, lawmakers need to pass the amendment bill into law formally. The legislative clock is ticking down fast before the next electoral cycle and this focused amendment cannot wait. The National Assembly needs to act fast to ratify decriminalization of attempted suicide, replacing prosecution with compassion, medical care and psychosocial support.

The National Assembly must not let the journey grind to a halt at the last mile. We therefore call on the Senate President, HE Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas and other committees in both chambers to quickly ratify this bill. Decriminalizing attempted suicide will send a strong message that Nigeria recognizes mental distress as a health issue that requires intervention, compassion and access to care. It will also reinforce the country’s commitment to the international course it has already taken.