Paul Ibe, an aide to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has slammed Senate President Godswill Akpabio for laughing during plenary when calls for rehabilitation were made for suicidal people.
According to Ibe, suicide is not a joke and not a crime but a cry for help.
Atiku's aide also condemned Akpabio's suggestion that some young people contemplate death because they believe seven virgins await them in the afterlife.
He described the remark as bigoted, insensitive, offensive and utterly beneath the dignity of the Senate President's office.
"What exactly were you trying to achieve by introducing such a crude religious stereotype into a serious debate about mental health? Were you trying to entertain your colleagues or trivialise the suffering of vulnerable Nigerians?
"Mr. Senate President, suicide is not a comedy, mental illness is not a punchline, and the Nigerian Senate is not a theatre for religious prejudice," he said.
Ibe said that at a time when millions of Nigerians are battling crushing economic hardship, unemployment, poverty and hopelessness, the last thing they need is a Senate President threatening imprisonment for those who attempt suicide and survive.
He said economic hardship can deepen psychological distress, lamenting that rather than demanding improved mental health services, psychiatric facilities, counselling and social protection, Akpabio appears more interested in punishment.
"You cannot govern people into hopelessness and then threaten to imprison them for manifesting that hopelessness.
"People contemplating suicide need compassion, professional help and hope, not ridicule, religious stereotypes or imprisonment.
"Mr. Senate President, you owe Nigerians an apology, particularly those battling mental health challenges and those whose religious beliefs your remarks may have demeaned.
"The Senate should proceed with decriminalising attempted suicide while strengthening access to mental healthcare.
"Mr Akpabio, when a Nigerian attempts suicide and survives, the question should not be how many years that person deserves in prison. It should be what drove that person to despair and how society can help them recover.
"A cry for help must never become an invitation to punishment," Atiku's aide said.
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