The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved an amendment to the country’s mental health law to decriminalise attempted suicide, moving from prosecution of people in psychological distress to treatment, care and support.
Addressing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali Pate, said the proposed amendment to the National Mental Health Act would be transmitted to the National Assembly as an executive Bill.
He further explained that the present administration intends to end the application of colonial-era provisions that treat attempted suicide as a criminal offence.
He said the intended reform will treat attempted suicide principally as a public health and mental health issue requiring professional intervention rather than punishment.
According to the Minister, suicide accounts for more than 7,000 deaths annually in Nigeria, while an estimated 300,000 suicide attempts are recorded across the country every year, citing World Health Organisation statistics.
He said despite the volume of the problem, attempted suicide remains criminalised under Section 327 of the Criminal Code Act and Section 231 of the Penal Code, creating a situation where people experiencing psychological distress could be treated as offenders rather than patients requiring care.
Pate said the existing provisions discourage people from seeking help and are inconsistent with the National Mental Health Act, which provides for treatment, protection and supportive care for people at risk of self-harm.
“The idea is that attempting suicide is not a crime”, explaining that the reform would change the prevailing approach to one that recognises people attempting self-harm as requiring medical and psychosocial support.
He likened the current approach to punishing a person for suffering from an illness, arguing that mental health conditions should receive the same compassionate, treatment-oriented response as other health conditions, “So it’s changing the paradigm to one whereby they require care and support”, he said.
Pate said the Federal Government hopes the reform will contribute to reducing both attempted suicides, with a target of cutting the incidence by 15 per cent by 2030.
He added that the reform, when enacted, would help Nigeria tackle the growing burden of mental ill-health and remove legal barriers that discourage vulnerable people from seeking professional assistance.
