By Omowunmi Oladokun
Section 306 of the Criminal Code:
“ It is unlawful to kill any person unless such killing is authorised or justified or excused by law”.
Euthanasia is the act of ending the life of an individual who is suffering from a severe and incurable disease.
TYPES OF EUTHANASIA.
1.Active Euthanasia: this is usually intentional. It involves taking the life of another person directly through injection, poison e.t.c.
2.Passive Euthanasia: This involves allowing a person to die by withholding treatment or withdrawing life–support measure.
THE LEGALITY OF EUTHANASIA IN NIGERIA.
Euthanasia is completely illegal in Nigeria, and any form of mercy killing or assisted suicide is considered a crime under Nigerian criminal law and it is punishable as murder under provisions like Section 306 of the Criminal Code
A patient’s consent to be killed does not exempt a doctor or individual from liability.
In Danladi v. State (2025) LPELR-80672 (SC):The Supreme Court ruled that euthanasia or mercy killing should never be a defence to murder, affirming that killing a person. i.e depriving them of there right to life, (even when they are in severe pain due to terminal illness) is considered as Murder and it is unlawful.
Also, in State v. Okezie (1972 2 E.C.S.L.R. 419) emphasizes that a person’s consent to end their life does not remove the accused person from liability under Nigerian legal system.
However, Section 33(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic guarantees the right to life which is against Right to dignity (Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution) i.e forcing a terminally ill person to endure severe pain violates constitutional protections of human dignity.
In an International case of Airedale NHS Trust v. Bland (1993) : The UK Court established that a doctor’s duty to provide life-prolonging treatment ends if the treatment is in vain i.e the patient is not responding to treatment and it held that:
“The court ruled that withdrawing a feeding tube from a patient in a persistent vegetative state was an omission (allowing nature to take its course), not a positive act of killing”
In conclusion, A Religious Leader states that : “Nobody should die except by permission of God at an appointed time” re emphasizing that Euthanasia is absolutely wrong but there should be exceptions to the rule when it comes to extreme comatose i.e withdrawing treatment is not bad, if the patient is absolutely gone.
