A Public Interest Lawyer and Rights Activist, Daniel K. Kip, Esq., has filed a landmark public interest suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, asking the court to declare the criminalisation of attempted suicide in Nigeria unconstitutional, inhuman and void.
In Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/2520/2026 filed on 19th October, 2026, at the Abuja Judicial Division, Kip who is suing in the public interest, is challenging the constitutional validity of Section 327 of the Criminal Code Act and Section 231 of the Penal Code, both of which criminalise and punish a person who survives an attempt to take his or her own life.
Joined as Respondents in the suit are the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the National Assembly.
What The Applicant Wants
In the Originating Motion brought pursuant to Sections 33, 34, 35, 37, 42 and 46 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the UN Declaration of Human and Peoples Rights, the National Mental Health Act 2021, and the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018, the lawyer is seeking 15 far-reaching declaratory and injunctive reliefs, including:
a) A declaration that Section 327 of the Criminal Code and Section 231 of the Penal Code, insofar as they punish survivors of attempted suicide with imprisonment, are inconsistent with the rights to dignity of human person, humane treatment, personal liberty, health and freedom from discrimination guaranteed under Sections 34, 35 and 42 of the Constitution.
b) A declaration that arresting, detaining, prosecuting and imprisoning a person solely because he survived an attempt to take his own life, particularly where such conduct arose from severe emotional distress, mental illness or psychosocial disability, constitutes degrading and inhuman treatment contrary to Section 34(1)(a) of the Constitution.
c) An Order striking down and/or rendering unenforceable both provisions to the extent that they criminalise survivors of attempted suicide.
d) An Order of perpetual injunction restraining the Federal Government, the AGF, their agents and all prosecuting authorities from initiating or continuing any prosecution under the impugned provisions.
e) An Order directing that following an attempted suicide or credible suicidal crisis, the primary governmental response shall be referral for medical, psychiatric, psychological and psychosocial assessment, protection, counselling, treatment and rehabilitation consistent with the National Mental Health Act 2021.
Grounds for the Suit: Health Emergency, Not a Crime
In the Statement in support of the application, Kip argues that Nigeria’s current penal approach is a 19th/20th-century colonial relic that contradicts the modern, rights-based mental health regime established by the National Mental Health Act 2021.
According to him, the Act recognises equal fundamental rights for persons requiring mental-health services; protection from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; humane and dignified treatment; and counselling, rehabilitation and aftercare in the least restrictive environment.
“The Constitution protects life; it does not require punishment for surviving a suicidal crisis. Decriminalisation is not legalisation, endorsement or encouragement of suicide. It is the substitution of a health-centred and protective response for a penal response,” the application states.
The suit also relies on Sections 28 of the Criminal Code and 51 of the Penal Code, which exonerate persons from criminal responsibility where mental disease or unsoundness of mind deprives them of capacity to understand or control their actions.
Kip further cited the persuasive comparative judgment of the High Court of Kenya delivered on 9th January, 2025 in Kenya National Commission on Human Rights & 2 Ors v Attorney-General & 3 Ors (Constitutional Petition No. E045 of 2022, KEHC 6), where the Kenyan court struck down a materially similar colonial legislation criminalising attempted suicide as unconstitutional.[2025]
Who is Daniel K. Kip?
Daniel K. Kip is a Lawyer, Public Interest & Rights Activist, Past Assistant General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Member of the NBA Citizens Liberties Committee, Member of the NBA Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL), and Member of Legal Advocacy Response To Drugs Initiative (LARDI).
He filed the suit through his firm Tim Lebura Kip & Co., Maestro Law (TLK), Law Hub, Plot 952, Royal Court, Jabi, FCT-Abuja.
No date has been fixed for hearing of the suit.
The case is expected to test Nigeria’s constitutional commitment to dignity, mental health justice and the place of the new National Mental Health Act 2021 in reforming colonial-era penal laws.
