By A police officer in the Force Public Relations Office (FPRO), Aliyu Giwa has said any attempt to procure abortion or miscarriage is punishable by jail terms under the Nigerian law.
Giwa made this known in a series of tweets on Tuesday, saying Section 228 – 230 of the Criminal Code Act states such offences translate to felony.
On attempts to procure abortion, Section 228 says that: “Any person who, with intent to procure miscarriage of a woman whether she is or is not with child, unlawfully administers to her or causes her to take any poison or other noxious thing, or uses any force of any kind or uses any other means whatever, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.”
While Section 229 speaks on attempts to procure own miscarriage, stating: “Any woman who, with intent to procure her own miscarriage whether she is or is not with child, unlawfully administers to herself any poison or other noxious thing, or uses any force of any kind, or uses any other means whatever, or permits any such thing or means to be administered or used to her, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for seven years.”
Section 230 of the same law says that: “Any person who unlawfully supplies to or procures for any person any thing whatever, knowing that it is intended to be unlawfully used to procure the miscarriage of a woman, whether she is or is not with child is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years.”
Meanwhile, abortion is illegal in Nigeria unless in situations where it is done to save the life of the mother. In 2015, the Nigeria Medical Association said over 50, 000 Nigerian girl-children die annually owing to complications arising from wrong and poorly done abortions.
