By Suleiman Tajudeen
CITIZENS COMPASS— The World Health Organization (WHO) defines teenage pregnancy as a pregnancy that occurs in females between the ages of 10 and19 years. In Nigeria, it is most common among girls aged 15 to 19 years in Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) and out-of-school adolescents. It is considered high-risk because the girl’s body, pelvis, and mind are not fully mature for childbearing.
Unsafe abortion: WHO describes unsafe abortion as the termination of an unintended pregnancy carried out either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards, or both (WHO, 2022). In Nigeria, this occurs due to restrictive laws, stigma, and poverty, forcing girls to seek clandestine services from quacks, chemists, and traditional practitioners.
Teenage pregnancy and unsafe abortion link: Teenage pregnancy is often unintended and unwanted. Due to shame, fear of expulsion from school, rejection by family, and inability to afford legal care, the pregnant teenager resorts to unsafe abortion in silence, leading to death or lifelong disability.
Historical perspective
Traditionally in pre-colonial Nigeria, early marriage was culturally accepted, and teenage childbearing within marriage was not viewed as a problem. Girls married between the ages of 13 and15 years, especially in Northern Nigeria, and childbearing was expected. However, premarital teenage pregnancy was heavily stigmatized and punished.
During the colonial period (1900-1960), Western education delayed marriage for some girls, but mission schools expelled pregnant girls, thereby creating shame. Abortion was criminalized under the British Criminal Code of 1916 (Southern Nigeria) and Penal Code (Northern Nigeria), laws still in force today except to save the mother’s life.
Post-independence (1970s-1990s), urbanization, oil boom, and breakdown of extended family control led to increased premarital sex, while schools maintained expulsion policies. This drove unsafe abortion underground.
From 2000 to date, despite the Child Rights Act 2003, National Adolescent Health Policy, and Re-entry Policy for teenage mothers (2021), the problem persists. Mobile phones, social media, transactional sex, poverty, and get-rich-quick culture have increased exposure, while comprehensive sexuality education remains controversial in schools. Nigeria still accounts for a high proportion of global unsafe abortion deaths.
Globally, about 21 million pregnancies occur yearly among girls between the ages of 15 and 19 in developing countries, with 12 million births and 5.6 million abortions, most unsafe (WHO, 2024).
In Nigeria, 19% of girls aged 15-19 have begun childbearing (NDHS, 2018), 23% in rural areas vs 10% in urban areas; 43% in North-West vs 7% in South-West.
Median age at first sex is 17.2 years for women, while median age at first marriage is 19.1 years, indicating premarital exposure
About 1.25 million abortions occur in Nigeria yearly, the majority clandestine and unsafe (Guttmacher Institute, 2023)
Adolescents account for 15-20% of abortion-related admissions in teaching hospitals
Unsafe abortion contributes to 13% of maternal deaths in Nigeria, second only to haemorrhage among adolescents
Many deaths are….
To be continued…
Dr. Suleiman Tajudeen is Director, Clinical Psychology, LUTH (Retired) & CEO, Clear Mind Psychological Consult, Ojo, Lagos State. +234 803 402 4457
