Nigeria’s suicide law faces pressure as experts demand response

Nigeria’s continued criminalisation of attempted suicide is coming under scrutiny, with legal, health and policy experts warning that punishment could discourage people in crisis from seeking medical and psychosocial help.

The concern was raised at a high-level webinar organised by the National Task Force on the Decriminalisation of Attempted Suicide in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

The September 30, 2026 webinar, titled “The Big Three for One: Roles of Government Arms in Advancing Suicide Prevention,” brought together Justice Muhammad Lawal Shuaibu of the Court of Appeal, representatives of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, mental-health professionals, public-health experts and civil society organisations.

The Chairman of the National Task Force, Prof Cheluchi Onyemelukwe, said the development represented an important stage in the country’s attempt to reform its legal response to suicide.

However, Onyemelukwe stressed that changing the law would only be the beginning of a wider suicide-prevention effort.
The task force wants Nigeria to move towards a system in which people who survive suicide attempts are directed towards healthcare, counselling and other forms of support instead of being subjected to criminal sanctions.

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Justice Muhammad Shuaibu, who explained the existing legal position, said attempted suicide remains an offence under Nigeria’s criminal laws until the legislature changes the relevant provisions.

He noted that both the Criminal Code and Penal Code contain provisions criminalising attempted suicide and that courts are bound to apply the law currently in force.

The judge also rejected the suggestion that the judiciary could simply stop prosecuting attempted-suicide cases, explaining that prosecution is the responsibility of the relevant prosecuting authorities while courts are required to interpret and apply the law in cases brought before them.
He cited previous Nigerian cases in which people who attempted suicide received custodial sentences, including cases involving drug overdose and ingestion of a toxic substance.
According to him, courts cannot independently create evidence of a mental-health condition where such evidence has not been presented before them.
However, Shuaibu said mental-health circumstances can be relevant to judicial proceedings when properly established.
He also called for greater mental-health training for judges, prosecutors, police officers and other personnel in the criminal justice system.
Without such training, he warned, people experiencing mental-health challenges could be pushed deeper into a criminal process when they instead require medical intervention.
Representing the Director-General of NILDS was Egwatu Onyejelem, who said that suicide should primarily be approached as a mental-health and public-health challenge rather than an offence requiring punishment.
He welcomed the Federal Executive Council’s decision to transmit the proposed amendment to the National Assembly but said decriminalisation would need to be accompanied by practical interventions.
These include crisis-intervention services, adequate funding, mental-health training for healthcare workers and first responders and stronger referral systems for people in distress.
Onyejelem also argued that criminalisation could undermine the quality of suicide data because people and families may be reluctant to report incidents or seek help if they fear legal consequences.
The webinar also highlighted a potential conflict between Nigeria’s mental-health framework and its criminal laws.
Onyemelukwe said the National Mental Health Act already provides a framework for protecting people who are at risk of harming themselves.
Under the framework discussed during the webinar, police officers and social workers can take people at risk of self-harm into protective care rather than treating them as criminal suspects.
This creates a potential tension with criminal provisions that punish attempted suicide.