Law criminalising suicide attempt cruel Janet Ogundepo Leading psychiatrists and community health physicians have described the law that criminalises suicide attempts as cruel and uncompassionate, calling for its review to advance suicide prevention in Nigeria. They noted that Nigeria was among the 25 countries in the world where suicide attempt was a crime, noting that such a law was not indigenous to Nigeria or the African continent. The experts shared their views during a webinar titled “Community Mobilisation for Suicide Prevention” organised by the Nigeria Suicide Prevention Advocacy Working Group, hosted by Professor Taiwo Sheikh on Saturday.
According to the World Health Organisation, globally, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death with about 700-800 people dying by suicide each year, equating to one death every 40 seconds. In Nigeria, the Criminal Code Section 327 states that: “Any person who attempts to kill himself is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment for one year” while Section 231 of the Penal Code states, “Whoever attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine or with both.” Recently, the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe, confirmed that attempted suicide was still a punishable offence in Nigeria.
Edafe, who made this statement in response to online criticism of the arrest of a.