Nigeria plans bill to decriminalise attempted suicide

Nigeria plans to send a bill to the National Assembly to decriminalise attempted suicide, Health Minister Ali Pate said.

Attempted suicide remains a criminal offence in Nigeria. It is punishable by up to one year in prison under the colonial-era Criminal Code, while the Penal Code allows up to one year in prison, a fine or both.

“As you all know, suicide is a major public health concern in Nigeria,” Pate told journalists on Wednesday. “The idea is attempted suicide is not a crime.”

Pate said Nigeria records about 300,000 suicide attempts each year, with at least 7,000 deaths, citing World Health Organization figures. He said criminalising attempted suicide discourages people from seeking help and conflicts with national mental health policy.

Nigeria also faces a shortage of mental health professionals. Figures from the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria from 2024 put the number of psychiatrists at fewer than 1,000 for more than 200 million people.