This may sound absurd or ridiculous to say but the fact remains that you as an individual don’t have the power or right to take your own life or commit suicide whenever you want. Just like it is against the law of nature for you to end your life, it is also against the law of the government to end your life in Nigeria because as a Nigerian citizen, your life belongs to the government.
Safe to say that you are not the owner of your life, you are just the custodian, the government of Nigeria owns it and you should be accountable or held accountable for your life.
That is why you have been given the constitutional right to life. This is the first provision of chapter 4 of the constitution which provides for Fundamental Human Rights every individual enjoys as a citizen of Nigeria;
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S.33. 1. Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria.
By this purport, no one has the right to suicide despite the circumstance or situation: (Suicide, simply put is death caused by injuring oneself with the intent to die. A suicide attempt is when someone harms themselves with any intent to end their life, but they do not die as a result of it).
Just as no other person has the right or power to take your life illegally or they will be prosecuted for murder or manslaughter so also, you as an individual do not have the right or power or take your own life, an attempt to do that will constitute an offense.
You are categorically not permitted to take your life or end your life by yourself under any circumstance despite the situation. If you ever try to commit suicide you have committed an offense punishable under section 327 of the criminal code act which provides;
S 327 Any person who attempts to kill himself is guilty of a misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment for one year.
It is only nature and the government that has the power to take or end your life. Nature has taken your life when you die of natural consequences and the government can end your life in the execution of a judgment as a punishment for the crime (usually capital offense) committed by you.
Next time before posting online or threatening to commit suicide, remember that any attempt to suicide already makes you a criminal and you can be arrested and prosecuted for it and the punishment for it is a one-year jail term.
In all sincerity, I am not insensitive or trying to downplay the daily struggles individuals face that warrant them to resort to suicide as a way out but you need to stay alive because a wise man once said that once there’s life there is hope.
Say No To Suicide