Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has vowed to review the law criminalising suicide attempts in the country.

The minister made this promise when receiving a delegation from the Asido Foundation, the Asido Foundation is a non-governmental organisation promoting mental health advocacy and reforms.

This was revealed in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday by the Special Adviser to the President on Communications and Publicity, Office of the AGF, Kamarudeen Ogundele.

According to the AGF, health was one of the priority areas of the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

He said, “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 has also promised to take up the issues around the Mental Health Act with his colleagues in the Federal Ministry of Health.

Dr Jibril Abdulmalik, the founder of Asido, had earlier 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.

He also said medical reports had shown that 80 to 90 per cent of those who attempted suicide all over the world had background mental illness, especially depression.

“It is because of a 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 the hospitals,” he added.