By Henry Umoru
Moves by the Senate to establish a framework for suicide prevention, decriminalise attempted suicide and provide for the establishment of persons who attempt suicide got a boost as the bill to this effect scaled second reading in the Senate.
The bill scaled second despite the position of the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, who insisted that the act should remain punishable by imprisonment.
Akpabio argued that removing the penalties could encourage the act, arguing thus, “If you attempt suicide, make sure you die. Anyone who attempts and fails will go to jail.”
Akpabio added that the issue involves both the Criminal Code and the Penal Code, requiring input from State Houses of Assembly during a public hearing to avoid legal conflicts.
The proposed bill seeks to remove the conflict between existing criminal laws that punish attempted suicide and the National Mental Health Act, which recognises the need for medical intervention in mental health emergencies, just as it seeks to address what he described as a contradiction in Nigeria’s laws.
It is titled A Bill to establish framework for Suicide Prevention, decriminalise attempted suicide and provide for the establishment of persons who attempt suicide, and for related Matters 2006(SB.730) it was sponsored by Senator Ekpenyong Asuquo, APC, Cross River South.
The bill was on Tuesday referred to the Senate Committee on Health ( Secondary and Tertiary) and Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters for further legislative action.
In his lead debate on the general principles of the bill, Senator Asuquo explained that the proposed amendment would establish a legal framework for suicide prevention, treatment and support for people who survive suicide attempts, and that the central question before the Senate was whether the state should punish or protect a person who survives an attempt to take their own life.
Ekpenyong argued that while the National Mental Health Act recognises attempted suicide as a psychiatric emergency requiring treatment, Section 327 of the Criminal Code and Section 231 of the Penal Code still criminalise the act.
He said the proposed legislation would replace punitive responses with appropriate medical assessment, treatment and continuing support for survivors.
“The police station or correctional facility should not be the default destination for a person who requires urgent clinical care,” Ekpenyong said.
“At the heart of this bill is a simple question. When a Nigerian survives a suicide attempt, should the first response of the state be persecution or protection?” he asked.
Ekpenyong, who noted that while the National Mental Health Act recognised attempted suicide as a psychiatric emergency requiring immediate intervention, Section 327 of the Criminal Code and Section 231 of the Penal Code continued to expose survivors to criminal punishment, said, “Our law presently speaks with two voices,” arguing that the contradiction needed to be resolved to ensure that people experiencing mental health crises received appropriate care.
He however warned that criminalising attempted suicide could discourage people from seeking help, encourage families to conceal incidents and prevent health workers from reporting cases promptly, adding that treating suicide attempts as criminal offences could also deepen the stigma surrounding mental health conditions and undermine efforts to gather reliable data for national suicide prevention programmes.
Ekpenyong, who further explained that the bill would provide for coordinated suicide prevention services, crisis response mechanisms, referral pathways and support for people who survive suicide attempts, said it would also promote public education and training for health workers, teachers, law enforcement personnel and emergency responders to enable them to recognise warning signs and connect people at risk with appropriate services.
According to him, decriminalisation alone would not be sufficient without accessible medical and psychological care, calling for institutional arrangements and funding to support the implementation of suicide prevention policies, just as he urged his colleagues to support the bill, saying Nigeria needed a system that recognised distress and responded before a crisis became irreversible.
Supporting the proposal, lawmakers argued that survivors of suicide attempts should receive medical and psychological care rather than face criminal prosecution.
In his contribution, Senator Dayo Faduyile, APC, Ondo South, who cited his experience practising medicine, said attempted suicide should be approached as a medical emergency rather than a criminal offence, and argued that depression and other mental health conditions could impair a person’s judgement, making it necessary to prioritise treatment and recovery.
The senator, who noted that some people who survived suicide attempts had subsequently taken their lives while in detention, warned that imprisonment or police custody could not adequately address the underlying medical condition, adding, “The best way to treat anybody who did not succumb to a suicide attempt is actually not to criminalise it. They need help.”
According to him, placing people experiencing such crises in police stations or correctional facilities would not resolve their problems, insisting that they required proper medical attention.
Also in his contribution, Senator Abdul Ningi, Bauchi Central, who hailed Ekpenyong for bringing the issue before the Senate, describing it as an important legal and public health debate that had not received sufficient attention, said the second reading would allow the proposal to proceed for further scrutiny, public consultation and contributions from professionals and other stakeholders.
According to him, the circumstances surrounding suicide attempts required a broader understanding of mental health and the social pressures confronting individuals, adding that the proposed legislation would provide an opportunity for psychologists, medical practitioners and other experts to contribute to the development of a more effective national response.
Ningi said people responded differently to life’s difficulties and that those who could not cope with particular circumstances should not automatically be treated as criminals.
In his contribution, the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, APC, Ekiti Central, however, cautioned that some provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act were not automatically applicable across all states, depending on the legal framework adopted by their respective Houses of Assembly.
According to him, the Senate needed to establish the extent to which the proposed amendment would apply nationally before proceeding with the legislation.
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