In a landmark reform, President Bola Tinubu’s Federal Executive Council has approved an amendment to the National Mental Health Act, scrapping colonial-era provisions that criminalised attempted suicide in Nigeria.
For decades, anyone who survived a suicide attempt could be arrested and prosecuted under Section 327 of the Criminal Code Act and Section 231 of the Penal Code; laws inherited from British rule. Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, says that the era is ending.
“People in psychological distress need treatment, not punishment,” Pate told State House correspondents on Wednesday, revealing that the WHO estimates over 7,000 suicide deaths and about 300,000 suicide attempts occur in Nigeria every year.
The amendment; a joint effort between the Ministries of Health and Justice; will now be transmitted to the National Assembly as an executive bill. If passed, it will replace prosecution with psychosocial support and professional care, part of a broader push to cut suicide rates by 15% by 2030.
A quiet policy shift with the power to save lives; by finally treating mental health as health, not crime.
