Abuja man who attempted suicide risks one year in jail – Official

An official from the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Abuja, said on Tuesday that the man rescued from a suspected suicide attempt on Monday could face up to one year in jail if prosecuted successfully.

The Secretary, Command and Control Centre of the Security Department of the FCTA, Peter Olumuji, cited section 231 of the Penal Code Act to back his claim.

Mr Olumuji, who appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, said the attempted suicide survivor, Shuaibu Yushau, was still in police custody.

“Why is he with the police? After the rescue, the emergency services did their normal procedures on him, and you know that under the Penal Code, section 231, anyone that attempts suicide is liable to punishment of one year,” the official said during the television programme monitored by our reporter.

The police said in a statement on Monday that they got a distress call from concerned Nigerians, prompting them to mobilise their operatives to the location to arrest Mr Yushau.

Channels TV reported that the man threatened to sacrifice his life for the solution to the country’s dire economic situation.

In the note he wrote and left on the ground before climbing the mast, Mr Shuaibu made various demands, which, he said, would alleviate the hardship in the country.

His demands include restoring fuel subsidies and declaring an emergency in some northern states facing insecurity.

Criminalising attempted suicide

Attempted suicide is a criminal act under the criminal federal laws.

Both the Penal Code applicable in the North and the Criminal Code Act applicable in the South regard an attempted suicide as a misdemeanour.

Section 231 of the Penal Code states that: “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.”

Similarly, section 327 of the Criminal Code states that “Any person who attempts to kill himself is guilty of a misdemeanour and is liable to imprisonment for one year.”

Mr Olumuji, who was at the scene of the incident, reported that Mr Yushau only climbed down from the mast after hours of pleading with him.

He disclosed that Mr Yushau had claimed to go into the premises for an interview without anyone suspecting his intentions of attempted suicide.

Mr Olumuji said a thorough investigation was underway to determine how Mr Yushau could access the mast without detection by security operatives.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Yushau had claimed to have observed the mast for about a week before climbing it on Monday.

He claimed that his suicide served as an act of protest against the socio-economic hardship plaguing the country.

He had penned down his conditions to the government in his suicide note, claiming that he had had enough of the hardship in the country.

The spokesperson for the FCT Police Command, Josephine Adeh, confirmed that Mr Yushau was in stable condition in police custody.

Concerns over criminalising attempted suicide

However, a consultant psychiatrist and professor, Owoidoho Udofia, who also appeared as a guest on Channels Television alongside Mr Olumuji, raised concerns over Mr Yushau’s ongoing detention by the police.

He said the survivor should be receiving medical attention instead of detaining him.

He also said the laws criminalising attempted suicide were barbaric and should be revisited.

Reacting to Mr Udofia’s concerns, Mr Olumuji said the social development secretariat of the FCT was carrying out medical checkups on the survivor. He also stated that the police have a medical facility.

However, Mr Udofia called into question the adequacy of the police clinic in handling cases of attempted suicide. He advised that a man who could climb a mast as high as 120 feet and remain there for hours needed a thorough professional medical examination.

But Mr Olumuji insisted that Mr Yushau was not behind bars and assured that the police were handling the case professionally.

PREMIUM TIMES reported in October 2023 that a civil society group, Nigerian Mental Health, called on the government to repeal the laws penalising citizens caught trying to take their own lives.

Assessing survivor’s mental well-being

Meanwhile, Mr Udofia described Mr Yushau as mentally fit, judging from his suicide note. He argued that nothing on the suicide note connoted mental illness.

But he said, “for mental well-being, he is definitely not having the best of it.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has described mental health as “a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.”

Mr Udofia noted that what was written in the suicide note was an indication of a lack of social well-being tied to the current realities in the country.

He explained that every Nigerian has been stressed due to the socio-economic hardship, which affects the general mental well-being.

He also explained that mental, physical and social well-being form the three pillars of health, and if anyone is distorted, it can wreak havoc.

Similarly, Mr Olumiji also said he could confirm Mr Yushau was in good mental health based on his interaction with him.

What determines the state of one’s mental health could be tied to exposure to social and economic factors such as poverty and violence. Mental health conditions could lead to mental disorders and even self-harm, like suicide attempts.

Individuals who attempt suicide have been known to experience feelings of helplessness, bordering on the notion that the difficult situation they are going through could not get better.