The law punishing suicide attempts will be reviewed, as promised, by Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).
Receiving a delegation from the Asido Foundation—a non-governmental organization that advocates for mental health advocacy and reforms to increase awareness, lessen stigma and discrimination, and empower individuals with mental illnesses and their families—he made the commitment.
The AGF said health is one of the priority areas of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The law is something we have to take a second look at, especially where it is established that the offenders are not in the right state of mind. What the offenders need is pity, treatment and love to rid society of this kind of situation. But whatever we do is not binding on the states. So, I will take the case to the Body of Attorneys General,” Fagbemi said.
He promised to take up the issues around the Mental Health Act with his colleagues in the Federal Ministry of Health.
Earlier, the founder of Asido, Dr Jibril Abdulmalik, sought the help of the AGF in reviewing the law sentencing people for attempted suicide and the implementation of the Mental Health Act signed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari in January 2023.
Abdulmalik said medical evidence had shown that all over the world, 80-90 per cent of those who attempted suicide had a background of mental illness, especially depression.
“It is their sense of hopelessness that makes them get to the edge, where they think they are better off dying. In that situation, what they need is help and treatment, not punishment and incarceration. We know the workload is heavy for our judicial officers. We don’t want them overburdened with cases that should ordinarily go to hospitals,” he added.