Nigeria moves to decriminalise attempted suicide

Nigeria's government says it wants to decriminalise attempted suicide, arguing that punishment deters people in crisis from seeking help.

Health minister Mohammed Ali Pate said the government would send a bill to the National Assembly to advance the plan. He said the aim was to reduce suicide deaths and attempts by 15 percent by 2030.

Pate described suicide as a major public health concern in Nigeria and said attempted suicide should not be treated as a crime. Citing World Health Organization figures, he said Nigeria records about 300,000 suicide attempts each year and at least 7,000 deaths.

Attempted suicide is criminalised across Nigeria under laws including some inherited from the colonial era. According to the advocacy campaign Decriminalise Suicide Worldwide, suicide attempts typically carry a one-year prison term across Nigeria's 36 states, while the penalty can be as high as five years in Jigawa, where sharia operates alongside state and federal justice systems.

Kingsley Okonoda, a psychiatry professor at the University of Jos, said criminalisation keeps many people from seeking treatment after a suicide attempt because they fear prosecution.

Mental health groups say changing the law will not be enough without better access to care. The Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria said fewer than 1,000 psychiatrists serve more than 200 million people and called for affordable, quality mental health services.

The association also said economic hardship, poverty, insecurity and social isolation contribute to mental illness and suicidal behaviour. Nigeria has faced high inflation, rising poverty and insecurity including a jihadist insurgency in the northeast, kidnap-for-ransom attacks, farmer-herder violence and separatist unrest.

A suicide prevention bill submitted by several NGOs in 2024 has not yet passed. Taiwo Lateef Sheikh of the Nigeria Suicide Prevention Advocacy Working Group said decriminalisation and the prevention bill were two parts of the same reform: one removing punishment and the other building support.