The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said that it took strong exception to the remarks attributed to the President of the Senate Godswill Akpabio, during debate on National Suicide Prevention Bill at the Senate plenary, describing it as “insensitive and disturbing.”
ADC in a statement by National Publicity Secretary Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, noted that Akpabio was caught in a video, saying, “why death may be attractive to some young people is that they have seven virgins waiting for them.”
The party said such comment is a disgraceful endorsement of what it called “an outdated colonial relic” that preferred to punish citizens who ordinarily require help.
“We find the lurid remark made by the Senate President, Senator Akpabio, about ‘seven virgins’ particularly insensitive and disturbing.
“We condemn it, not only because it promotes religious stereotyping, but also because it trivialises an issue that is, literally speaking, a matter of life and death,” the ADC said.
According to the party, such cynical and offensive comment can potentially promote religious stereotyping.
ADC said its supports the position that suicide is a mental health issue rather than a criminal act.
“The criminalisation of attempted suicide is a colonial legacy. These laws belong to an era when people experiencing profound distress were treated as offenders who, by trying to take their own lives, wanted to deprive ‘the Crown’ of the services they could render and the taxes they could pay, rather than as human beings in need of care.
“It is shameful that, when presented with an opportunity to reform this punitive inheritance, the head of the Senate chose to champion its preservation.
“Nigeria cannot continue to punish people for surviving a crisis that nearly claimed their lives, especially when those who handed us those laws have long abolished them,” the party said.
According to the ADC, a position that leaves a suicidal person with only the choice of death or imprisonment does not discourage suicide.
“It encourages it. To suggest that anyone attempting suicide had better succeed would appear to encourage people to devise more effective means of taking their own lives. We don’t think this is what the senators want,” the party added.
