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Summary
This reports details how the tragic death of a 16-year-old schoolgirl named Bimpe from unsafe abortion highlights the impact of unsafe abortion practices in Nigeria. Due to a culture of silence, shame, and limited access to comprehensive sex education and safe reproductive healthcare, many young women and girls resort to dangerous methods performed by unlicensed individuals.
Shortly after her graduation ceremony, 16-year-old Esther, who asked to use only her first name, received the news of the death of a classmate, Bimpe, who was also 16 years old. She had reached out to me on WhatsApp to share the experience of someone she knew who had died from an unsafe abortion.
Esther first met Bimpe when she resumed as a new student in SS2 in Lagos state. Although they were not close like best friends, they would still greet each other in school in Lagos. Esther narrated how everyone in class noticed Bimpe not coming to school frequently. It started as missing school twice a week until it became full-blown weeks with Bimpe not in school.
Rumours started circulating that Bimpe had dropped out of school. No one was aware of why she would drop out of school. It was after graduation that Esther and her classmates received news that Bimpe was dead. As for the cause of her death, the classmates were told Bimpe had typhoid.
“We later found out it was a mishap during the abortion. She died at home,” she said.
Bimpe is one of the many girls in Nigeria who lose their lives to unsafe abortion. An unsafe abortion is a procedure to end a pregnancy performed by someone without the necessary skills, or in an environment that does not meet minimal medical standards, or both.
These abortions are dangerous and can lead to life-threatening complications like severe bleeding, infection, and injury to internal organs.Â
Unsafe abortions often happen quietly, in secrecy, without medical supervision. For many young girls and women, the process begins with fear and secrecy. The fear of being judged by family or community.
As was the case with being judged, Bimpe dropped out of school when she was just in SS2. For fear of stigma and shame, Bimpe’s family decided to share that Bimpe had died due to typhoid.
With little to no access to safe reproductive health services, many girls turn to unlicensed practitioners, local chemists, or even attempt the procedure on their own.
Sometimes it’s as simple as buying unregulated pills from a roadside pharmacy, with no instructions on dosage or risks.
Other times, young women are subjected to crude methods—sharp objects, harmful chemicals, or rough procedures carried out by people with no medical training.
In most Nigerian secondary schools, sex education is either missing or watered down to warnings about abstinence only.
Students are rarely taught about contraception, consent, or how to navigate relationships responsibly. This gap leaves many teenagers to learn from peers, the internet, or myths.
A common myth is that a girl cannot get pregnant the first time she has sex, or that drinking certain concoctions after sex can flush the pregnancy away. These myths are dangerous, and many teenagers only discover the truth when it’s already too late.
For students, the fear of being expelled or disgraced by school authorities makes them hide their pregnancies. Instead of seeking professional help, they turn to unlicensed chemists or traditional providers, where unsafe abortions are carried out behind closed doors.
Nigeria’s cultural and religious values also shape conversations about sex and pregnancy. In many family households, pregnancy outside marriage is seen as a family disgrace. Girls are pressured to hide it at all costs.
The stigma forces secrecy. Families may insist that their daughters end the pregnancy quietly, or young girls themselves may take desperate steps to avoid shame.
Because abortion is rarely discussed openly, many girls don’t even know what safe services exist.
This culture of silence drives unsafe practices, trapping teenagers in cycles of fear, misinformation, and avoidable risk.
In Nigeria, abortion is largely restricted by law, and these unsafe methods remain widespread. According to studies, thousands of women and girls die every year from unsafe abortions.
Each year, about 2 million Nigerian women aged 15–49 have an abortion. More than 3 in 5 abortions 60% are unsafe.
Around 6,000 Nigerian women die every year from unsafe abortion-related complications. This represents about 10% of all pregnancy- and childbirth-related deaths in Nigeria.
Poor women, adolescents, rural women, and women with less education are most likely to have unsafe abortions and least likely to get medical care afterwards.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2023), Nigeria’s maternal mortality ratio is estimated at about 993 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
This means that for every 100,000 babies born alive in Nigeria, nearly 1,000 women die from pregnancy-related causes.
Nigeria alone contributes about 20% of global maternal deaths, highlighting how severe the crisis is. A Guttmacher Institute study (2015, using 2012 data) estimated that Nigerian women had about 1.25 million induced abortions in 2012.
The abortion rate was estimated at 33 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–49. This figure is considered high, especially because abortion in Nigeria is legally restricted and mostly unsafe.
Restrictive abortion laws, lack of access to contraception, and weak health systems all combine to make unsafe abortion a major but preventable contributor to maternal deaths.
To understand the medical and emotional dangers of unsafe abortion, I spoke with Samuel Adekola, a pharmacist and public health expert. He explained that the impact of unsafe abortion in Nigeria is diverse, multifaceted, and sometimes very devastating.
According to Samuel, unsafe abortion remains a major contributor to Nigeria’s high maternal mortality rate, accounting for as much as 10–15% of maternal deaths in the country. Because these procedures are often carried out by untrained individuals, he said, “It exposes the woman to dangers such as sepsis, an infection of the blood that, if poorly managed, often leads to death.”
He also highlighted other severe complications such as uterine perforation and permanent infertility, conditions that can destroy a woman’s reproductive health and, in some cases, end her life. “Damage to the womb can eventually lead to permanent infertility,” Samuel said.
Beyond physical health, the consequences extend to the mind and society. “There is also the issue of psychological trauma, which involves emotional and mental distress for the girl or woman,” he explained. “When the community sees a woman or girl who has carried out an abortion, it comes with some level of stigma, and this can result in emotional distress.”
Samuel added that the root causes of unsafe abortion are deeply tied to social and educational gaps. “One such cause is unprotected sex, and perhaps lack of education, especially sex education,” he said.
He emphasised the need for preventive strategies and reform: “Unsafe abortion can be very, very deleterious and undesirable in the female population. Women should be encouraged to desist from unsafe abortion and given the education and access they need to make safe choices.”
Oluwafunmbi Ogunsola, a gender advocate, offered her perspective on the connection between legal restrictions and the dangers women face regarding reproductive health.
“Unsafe abortion in Nigeria is a direct outcome of the abortion ban. In societies where abortion is recognised as healthcare, women have access to qualified medical professionals who provide it safely.
She stated that what we call unsafe abortion exists only because someone has assumed the authority to control women’s bodies.
“The truth is abortion cannot be banned; what the law does is strip women of their right to safe healthcare. Abortions will still happen, but instead of being safe, they become life-threatening,” She said.
In Southern Nigeria, abortion is a criminal offence under Sections 228–230 of the Criminal Code Act (Cap. C38, Laws of the Federation 2004). Although it is only legal to save the life of the woman, a woman who procures her own abortion can face up to 7 years imprisonment.
Anyone who helps her (e.g., a provider) can face up to 14 years imprisonment. In Northern Nigeria, Sections 232–236 of the Penal Code (Cap. 89, Laws of Northern Nigeria 1963).
Abortion is illegal except when performed to save the life of the woman. Penalties are similarly harsh, with up to 14 years imprisonment for providers.
There can only be a medical exemption in both codes; abortion may be lawfully performed if a registered medical practitioner believes it is necessary to preserve the woman’s life.
Because of these restrictions, most abortions in Nigeria are unsafe and done outside formal health systems.
According to Dogo Joy Njeb, a legal professional, Nigeria’s abortion laws remain highly restrictive.
She explains that both the Criminal Code (in the southern part of Nigeria) and the Penal Code (in the north) criminalise abortion, except in situations where it is performed to save a woman’s life.
“From my interpretation,” Joy told me, “the law states that a miscarriage or abortion must be caused in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the woman.”
This means that abortions are only permitted when continuing the pregnancy poses a direct threat to a woman’s life, such as in cases of ectopic pregnancies, cancer, or severe medical conditions like pulmonary hypertension or preeclampsia.
But Joy argues that this narrow interpretation ignores the complex realities women face.
“Limiting abortions only to cases that preserve a woman’s life is very restrictive,” she says. “What about rape victims, teenage girls, or women who simply cannot afford to raise a child in poverty? Forcing them to carry a pregnancy to term when they do not want to is unconscionable.”
Joy believes Nigeria’s laws need urgent reform. “Abortion should not be criminalised; it should be regulated,” she states.
“Hospitals and professionals who perform it should be licensed. Because of criminalisation, women turn to unsafe methods and untrained hands, and that’s why so many die.”
She points out that, according to WHO data, countries where abortion is legal and regulated have less than one death in 100,000 cases. In contrast, in places like Nigeria, where it is illegal and often performed secretly, maternal deaths rise to as high as 200 in 100,000 cases.
“Abortion itself isn’t the problem,” Joy concludes. “Criminalising it is. We keep saying that abortion is healthcare, and it should be treated as such.”
Although abortion is only legal to save a woman’s life, post-abortion care (PAC) is not illegal; Nigeria’s health policy and Federal Ministry of Health explicitly permit treatment of complications from miscarriage or unsafe abortion.
Many clinics like Marie Stopes, therefore, frame their services as: Post-abortion care and treatment of miscarriage.
Esther believes Bimpe’s life might have been different if she had stayed in school. To her, the lesson is clear: without strong support systems for young girls, unsafe abortions will keep cutting lives short. She hopes communities will provide both contraception and compassionate care, so no girl has to lose her future because of one mistake.
