Akpabio Insists On Jail Term For Suicide Attempt As Decriminalisation Bill Scales Second Reading
Akpabio maintained that attempted suicide should remain a criminal offence, arguing that removing the penalties could encourage the act. The post Akpabio Insists On Jail Term For Suicide Attempt As Decriminalisation…
Under Nigeria's Criminal Code, attempted suicide is currently classified as a misdemeanour punishable by imprisonment, a provision that mental health advocates and medical bodies have long argued discourages people in crisis from seeking help and compounds stigma around mental illness. Calls to decriminalise attempted suicide have gained traction in recent years, in line with a global shift toward treating suicide as a public health issue rather than a criminal one, with countries across the world progressively repealing similar colonial-era laws.
The bill's passage of second reading in the Senate marks a procedural step toward reform, but the debate exposed a divide between lawmakers pushing to replace punitive measures with a suicide-prevention framework and Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who publicly defended retaining jail terms for failed suicide attempts, arguing that scrapping the penalty could remove a deterrent. The coverage across outlets agrees on Akpabio's stance and the bill's advancement, though details on the proposed prevention framework, its implementation, and the next legislative steps remain unreported.