Legal practitioner Jibrin Okutepa has urged the National Assembly to adopt a more humane approach to attempted suicide, arguing that victims of despair need rehabilitation, counselling and medical care rather than prosecution and imprisonment.
Okutepa, who made the call in a post on his X account on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, said criminalising attempted suicide without addressing the underlying causes could worsen the suffering of vulnerable people.
He expressed disagreement with any suggestion that people who attempt to take their own lives should necessarily be prosecuted and imprisoned, describing such an approach as one that fails to recognise the complex psychological, emotional, economic and social challenges that may drive individuals to contemplate suicide.
According to him, “A society that responds to attempted suicide primarily with prosecution and imprisonment may be punishing the very people it ought to rescue.”
Okutepa stressed that while human life must be protected and nobody should be encouraged to take their own life, society must distinguish between deliberate criminal conduct and desperate actions arising from overwhelming personal circumstances.
He noted that people who attempt suicide could be battling depression, severe economic hardship, family breakdown, emotional trauma, social rejection or a profound sense of hopelessness.
“Such a person does not primarily need the cold walls of a prison. Such a person needs compassion, professional counselling, appropriate medical care, rehabilitation, reorientation and renewed hope in the value of life,” he said.
The legal practitioner questioned the purpose of imprisoning someone who had already reached the point of believing that life was no longer worth living, asking whether incarceration could restore hope or address the circumstances that led to the suicide attempt.
He warned that criminal prosecution, humiliation, stigma and isolation could deepen the psychological wounds of affected individuals rather than help them recover.
“The purpose of a humane justice system should not merely be to punish conduct but also to understand its causes, prevent its recurrence and restore human dignity,” Okutepa stated.
He argued that the responsibility of government to protect human life extended beyond criminal legislation to providing citizens with access to mental healthcare, meaningful social support and conditions that enable them to live with dignity.
According to him, the state’s first response when someone attempts suicide should be to save the person’s life, assess their circumstances, provide necessary treatment and support their recovery, rather than automatically initiate criminal proceedings.
“Criminal prosecution should not be the automatic response to a cry of desperation,” he said, adding that rehabilitation could serve society better than incarceration in such circumstances.
Okutepa consequently called on the National Assembly to embrace what he described as a more humane, evidence-informed and rehabilitative approach to attempted suicide.
He urged lawmakers to strengthen mental health services, establish accessible counselling and crisis intervention centres, and address the stigma that prevents vulnerable people from seeking help.
“A nation is judged not only by how severely it punishes wrongdoing, but also by how compassionately it treats its most vulnerable citizens,” he said.
He called for a Nigeria where people who have lost hope are helped to rediscover it and where emotional distress is met with understanding rather than condemnation.
“When a citizen attempts to end their life, the first question should not be, ‘What punishment does this person deserve?’ It should be, ‘What suffering brought this person to this point, and what can we do to ensure that they never return there?’” Okutepa added.
“That, to me, is the true meaning of justice tempered with humanity.”
