Welfare Advocay group supports Bill to decriminalise attempted suicide, faults Akpabio’s position

By Stephen Oladele

A welfare advocacy organisation, Community Outreach for Development and Welfare Advocay (CODWA) has supported a Bill before the Senate seeking to decriminalise attempted suicide in the country.

The organisation gave its support to the Bill just as it condemned the position of the Senate President, God’s will Akpabio, that survivors of attempted suicide should be jailed.

The CODWA which said that available data showed that Nigeria records over 7,000 suicide deaths and about 300,000 attempts annually, with over 450,000 Nigerians needing psychosocial support each year described attempted suicide as a mental health emergency saying  “It is a cry for help, not a crime.”

The Bill titled “A Bill to Establish a Framework for Suicide Prevention, Decriminalise Attempted Suicide and Provide for the Establishment of Support for Persons Who Attempt Suicide, and for Related Matters, 2026 (SB.730),” sponsored by Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong, representing Cross River South was on Tuesday passed at the Senate for second reading and it has been referred to the Senate Committees on Health (Secondary and Tertiary) and Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters

The Bill seeks to replace punishment with medical assessment, referral, treatment, and follow-up support. It also proposes crisis helplines, training for police officers, teachers and health workers, public education, and a national data system for suicide prevention. 

The CODWA in a statement signed by its Executive Director, Taiwo Otitolaye, said Akpabio’s position on the attempted suicide  “punishes pain, deepens stigma, discourages help-seeking, forces families to conceal attempts, and destroys the data needed for prevention.” 

“Worse, it creates a situation where a distressed person feels compelled to ensure the attempt is fatal to avoid prosecution. That is not deterrence. That is state-endorsed despair,” the organisation added.

The welfare advocacy group said there is, at present, legal contradiction about attempted suicide as it noted that two different laws are in operation on the matter.

It noted that there is Section 327 of the Criminal Code Act which states: “Any person who attempts to kill himself is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment for one year.” It further noted that related provision is in Section 231 of the Penal Code which provides a similar penalty of imprisonment up to one year or fine or both.

The CODWA said there is on the other hand the National Mental Health Act, 2021, signed into law on 5 January 2023, which replaced the outdated Lunacy Act of 1958 and which recognises attempted suicide as a psychiatric emergency requiring treatment and not punishment. 

It said the Act affirms rights to informed consent, confidentiality, humane treatment, freedom from discrimination, and access to community-based care.

The welfare advocacy group which welcomed the intent to harmonise the laws and to treat suicide prevention as a public health responsibility said the contradiction in the two laws should be resolved with the Penal Code reviewed and amended to remove criminalisation of attempted suicide. 

At the same time, the group while noting that there  are gaps between enactment of the Mental Health Act, 2023 and practical implementation of the Act said the Act should be attended to urgently to bridge the gaps through strengthening regulations. 

“Passing the Act was only the first step. Without implementation regulations, guidelines, funding, and monitoring frameworks, the Act remains a statute on paper while survivors are arrested in practice,” it stated.

The CODWA noted that three years after the enactment of the Mental Health Act, the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria has warned that the Act is yet to be implemented and that the system remained fragmented, with no unified structure for consistent and coordinated care.

It outlined the gaps between the enatcment of the Act and the implementation as follows:

– No nationwide crisis helplines

– No funded assessment and stabilisation centres for survivors

– No integration of mental health into Primary Health Care (PHC) in practice

– No trained and supervised PHC workers with essential medicines, confidential consultation space, and supervision

– No national referral and linkage pathway from community to PHC to specialist care

– No school counselling, workplace counselling, or follow-up care for survivors

– Poor data collection and surveillance

– Fewer than 3 percent of Nigerians living with mental health conditions have health insurance

The organisation which said that law cannot transform a health system while it remains largely confined to the statute book asked that practical implementation should follow 

The organisation called on the Senate, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and State Governments to:

“a. Amend Section 327 of the Criminal Code and Section 231 of the Penal Code to remove criminal penalties for attempted suicide, while retaining offences for procurement, counselling, or aiding suicide under Section 326 of the Criminal Code.

“b. Issue and fund implementation regulations for the Mental Health Act, 2023 to bridge the gaps, including standards for facilities, community-based care, rights protection, and monitoring.

“c. Strengthen Primary Health Care by integrating mental health into routine PHC services with trained, supervised community health workers, essential psychotropic medicines, confidential consultation space, and clear referral links.

“d. Establish funded assessment and stabilisation centres, crisis helplines, and follow-up care for survivors.

“e. Create a national referral and linkage pathway connecting communities, religious and traditional leaders, PHC centres, secondary facilities, and psychiatric hospitals.

“f. Mandate and fund training for police officers, teachers, health workers, and emergency responders on mental health first aid and humane response.

“g. Integrate counselling and psychosocial support into schools, universities, youth camps, workplaces, and services for internally displaced persons, survivors of gender-based violence, and adolescents.

“h. Expand health insurance coverage to include mental health assessment, medication, counselling, and follow-up.

“i. Fund the National Suicide Prevention Strategic Framework and a national data and surveillance system to understand the scale of the problem and identify vulnerable groups.

“j. Ensure meaningful public hearings with State Houses of Assembly and civil society, not to debate whether survivors should be jailed, but to agree on how care will be delivered in every state.”

The CODWA said a survivor in distress deserved a counsellor, a referral slip, and a follow-up call and not a cell, a charge sheet, and a criminal record. 

It charged that, “The Senate must choose prevention over punishment, care over condemnation, and life over imprisonment.”