When Surviving Becomes a Crime: Can Nigeria’s Mental Health Reform Save Lives?
Korede Abdullah 
LAGOS, Nigeria – One of the darkest moments in Jane Ayoola’s life did not end with death. It ended with survival—and the possibility of being treated as a criminal rather than a patient. After years of emotional exhaustion, financial hardship and the devastating loss of her autistic child, she attempted to take her own life in 2024. Her story is one shared quietly by many Nigerians battling overwhelming psychological distress, often behind closed doors and beneath layers of stigma. Yet under Nigeria’s existing laws, surviving a suicide attempt can still attract criminal prosecution. As the Federal Government moves to decriminalise attempted suicide through proposed amendments to the National Mental Health Act, Africa Health Report’s Korede Abdullah examines whether replacing punishment with treatment could save lives—and whether Nigeria’s overstretched mental-health system is prepared for the responsibility.
A Mother’s Breaking Point
Jane Ayoola never imagined she would reach a stage where life no longer felt worth living.
Years of caring almost alone for her autistic child had taken an enormous emotional, physical and financial toll. The burden became heavier as she struggled to provide specialised care while raising two other children.
Then tragedy struck.
Her child died.
Looking back, she recalls how grief overwhelmed every part of her life.
“I was responsible for my autistic child’s care almost entirely by myself. I spent virtually all my resources trying to provide the care my child needed. It was emotionally exhausting and financially draining.”
After the loss, she said, everything changed.
“I felt completely broken.”
For Ayoola, despair eventually became unbearable.
“I felt that I had reached the end of the road.”
Her sister intervened before it was too late, taking her to a psychiatric hospital where she received treatment and gradually began to recover.
Today, Ayoola believes that decision saved her life.
Her experience also lies at the heart of a growing national debate: should someone experiencing profound psychological distress be prosecuted—or treated?
When Survival Leads to Prosecution
Nigeria remains one of the countries where attempting suicide is still a criminal offence.
In southern Nigeria, Section 327 of the Criminal Code Act provides that anyone who attempts to take their own life commits a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year’s imprisonment.
In the North and the Federal Capital Territory, Section 231 of the Penal Code also criminalises attempted suicide and provides for imprisonment, a fine or both.
Mental-health professionals have increasingly questioned whether these provisions discourage vulnerable people from seeking help.
Legal practitioner Wahab Olawale believes the issue comes down to a simple but profound question.
“The difference is essentially between punishment and intervention.”
He argues that under the current system, someone experiencing a mental-health crisis may enter the criminal justice system at precisely the moment they most need psychiatric care and emotional support.
A Law Pulling in Two Directions
The contradiction has become more apparent since Nigeria enacted the National Mental Health Act 2021, legislation intended to improve the protection, treatment and rights of people living with mental-health conditions.
According to Olawale, the existing criminal provisions now sit uneasily alongside that law.
“The amendment changes the question from ‘What punishment should this person receive?’ to ‘What intervention does this person require to preserve life and prevent another attempt?'”
Rather than viewing attempted suicide solely as a criminal act, the proposed reform recognises that it may be the outcome of severe psychological distress requiring assessment, treatment and long-term support.
What the Proposed Reform Would Actually Change
The Federal Executive Council has approved amendments aimed at decriminalising attempted suicide.
However, the proposal has not yet become law.
Before any change takes effect, it must still pass through the National Assembly.
If approved, the reforms would shift Nigeria’s response away from criminal prosecution towards psychiatric care, counselling, rehabilitation and psychosocial support.
Olawale says the reform cannot coexist with existing criminal provisions.
“You cannot have one piece of federal legislation saying, in effect, ‘this conduct should receive a health response,’ while another enforceable criminal provision continues to impose criminal liability for the same conduct.”
The Criminal Code and Penal Code, he argues, would need to be amended or rendered inoperative where they conflict with the new approach.
Psychiatrists Say Every Attempt Is a Medical Emergency
For psychiatrists, surviving a suicide attempt should trigger immediate medical intervention rather than police investigation.
The Medical Director of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Dr Gbenga Owoeye, said an attempted suicide should always be treated as a serious clinical warning sign.
He explained that while a suicide attempt is not itself a psychiatric diagnosis, it may occur alongside depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis, substance-use disorders or severe emotional distress.
“When the individual is arrested and prosecuted, the underlying clinical problem may remain untreated.”
According to him, clinicians need to understand what triggered the behaviour, assess the person’s future suicide risk and begin appropriate treatment.
Decriminalisation, he said, could remove one of the biggest barriers preventing people in crisis from accessing healthcare.
“Survival from a suicide attempt should become an entry point into care rather than an entry point into the criminal justice system.”
Changing the Law Will Not Be Enough
Experts caution that removing criminal penalties alone will not significantly reduce suicide.
Dr Owoeye believes every survivor should receive a comprehensive assessment examining previous attempts, suicidal thoughts, mental-health history, substance use, family relationships, social pressures and available support systems.
He identified bereavement, unemployment, domestic violence, chronic illness, financial hardship, trauma, relationship breakdown and social isolation as some of the circumstances that can push vulnerable individuals into crisis.
Without affordable counselling, follow-up care and accessible psychiatric services, legal reform alone may have only limited impact.
Can Nigeria’s Mental-Health System Cope?
Perhaps the greatest challenge lies beyond the courtroom.
Nigeria’s mental-health services remain severely overstretched.
With fewer than 1,000 psychiatrists serving a population exceeding 200 million people, access to specialist care remains limited, particularly outside major cities.
The shortage is compounded by persistent stigma, where mental illness is still wrongly viewed by some communities as spiritual weakness or personal failure.
Dr Owoeye argues that increasing access—not maintaining criminal sanctions—is the appropriate response.
He called for greater investment in psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric nurses, social workers and community mental-health professionals.
Equally important, he said, is integrating mental-health services into primary healthcare so that people can receive early support without needing specialist hospitals.
“Not every person experiencing psychological distress needs to be treated in a tertiary psychiatric hospital.”
Training frontline healthcare workers to recognise warning signs and make timely referrals, he added, could prevent many crises from escalating.
From Punishment to Prevention
The proposed reforms represent more than a legal amendment.
They signal a shift in how Nigeria chooses to respond to one of the country’s most sensitive public-health challenges.
The Federal Government has set a target of reducing suicide attempts and deaths by 15 per cent by 2030.
Achieving that ambition, however, will require much more than legislative reform.
Experts say it will depend on sustained investment in mental-health services, stronger referral systems, reliable national data, public education campaigns, better-trained healthcare professionals and support for families caring for people in crisis.
Dr Owoeye believes the reforms could help move Nigeria away from blame and towards compassion.
Ayoola hopes they will also encourage others to seek help before reaching the point she once did.
“Things can change. Talk to someone you trust and seek professional help.”
For people standing at the edge of despair, the question facing Nigeria is no longer simply whether attempted suicide should remain a crime.
It is whether a country confronting a growing mental-health burden can replace punishment with timely care, dignity and hope—and ensure that surviving a suicide attempt becomes the beginning of recovery rather than the start of another ordeal.
About the Author
Mirian Gom 
