The Nigerian Mental Health and the Nigeria Suicide Prevention Advocacy Working Group have commended the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approving an amendment to the National Mental Health Act 2021 to decriminalise attempted suicide.
The groups, in a statement on Saturday in Lagos, described the decision as a significant step toward treating self-harm as a public health issue rather than a criminal offence.
They commended the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, and the Federal Government for the action, while urging the National Assembly to urgently pass the amendment.
According to the groups, no fewer than 15,000 Nigerians die by suicide annually, while an estimated 300,000 suicide attempts occur each year, citing figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The founder of Nigerian Mental Health, Chime Asonye, said survivors of suicide attempts needed medical and psychological support rather than prosecution.
“A person who survives a suicide attempt needs a clinician, not a charge sheet. The Council has now said so, and that matters,” Asonye said.
He said decriminalisation alone would not be enough to address the country’s suicide crisis, noting that the Department of Mental Health Services mandated by the National Mental Health Act 2021 had not been established.
“The Minister’s target of reducing suicide deaths and attempts by 15 per cent by 2030 will not be met by repealing a law alone,” he said.
The groups also urged the National Assembly to prioritise the National Suicide Prevention Bill 2024, currently before it.
They said the legislation should provide a comprehensive framework for suicide prevention, data collection, crisis intervention, funding and specialised training for healthcare workers and first responders.
The convener of the Nigeria Suicide Prevention Advocacy Working Group, Prof. Taiwo Sheikh, described the proposed amendment and the Suicide Prevention Bill as complementary reforms.
Sheikh urged lawmakers to pass both measures during the current legislative session, warning that further delays could cost lives.
“The amendment and the National Suicide Prevention Bill are two halves of one reform: one removes the punishment, the other builds what should be there instead.
“Passing one without the other leaves the work unfinished.
“The executive has moved; the question now belongs to the National Assembly: whether both pass in this session or wait for another. Every year they wait is counted in lives,” Sheikh said.
The groups further called on the Federal Government to establish and fund the Department of Mental Health Services as provided by the Mental Health Act.
They also urged the Ministries of Health and Justice to publish the proposed amendment for public scrutiny, stressing that decriminalisation must be accompanied by practical reforms in police stations, hospitals and communities.
