The Nigeria Editors Guild (NGE) and the Socio -Economic Rights and Responsibility (Serap) project have requested the suspension of the implementation of the cyber crimes law.
The groups denounced a strong increase in attacks against freedom of the press and civil freedoms during a press conference held in Lagos.
They accused the Nigerian authorities of arming the law of cyber crimes and other regulatory tools to suffocate dissent, criminalize journalism and attack government critics.
In his submission, the deputy director of Serap, Kolawole Oluwadare, delivered a scathing criticism of what he described as a “growing repression” about freedom of expression.
Specifically cited section 24 of the Cyber Crimes Law, despite its 2024 amendment, as a legal blow usually used against journalists, bloggers, activists and even common citizens for expressing online opinions.
“We are deeply concerned about the growing use of the legislation to silence dissent. The authorities continue to display section 24 to attack the Nigerians for exercising their constitutionally guaranteed rights,” said Oluwadare.
He added that the abuse pattern includes extrajudicial arrests, malicious prosecutions, forced disappearances and illegal surveillance, increasingly used tactics to intimidate professional journalists and social media users.
“People have been arrested and accused simply by publications in WhatsApp students groups. This is no longer just a repression, it is absurd and dangerous,” he said.
Oluwadare explained that the 2024 amendment of the Law of Cyber crimes did not align with a 2022 judgment by the Court of Justice of the CEDEAS, which ruled Section 24 of the original law as vague, arbitrary and violation of international human rights treaties such as the African Charter on Human Rights and Peoples.
According to him, the amended version retains ambiguous terms, especially under the provisions related to “cybestaling”, creating space for interpretation and arbitrary misuse.
“It can be processed simply because someone claims to feel 'fear' of their message. That is not a standard for justice; it is an open door to censorship and tyranny,” Oluwadare warned.
Similarly, Dr. Iyobosa Uwugiaren, general secretary of the Nigerian Editors guild, requested the immediate suspension of the application of the law until their problematic provisions are repealed or reviewed online with the obligations of Nigeria under the international and national law of human rights.
“We urge President Tinubu to make sure that no journalist, blogger or activist is arrested, detained or harassed simply for doing his job,” Uwugiaren said.
“The government must demonstrate a genuine commitment to the rule of law and freedom of the press,” he added.
Uwugiaren revealed that the guild has established a committee that includes editors and media executives to identify laws that currently prevent journalistic freedom.
The objective, he said, is to develop a solid reform agenda that will be presented to the National Assembly.
His concerns come in the midst of an alarming increase in attacks against journalists in Nigeria.
The Center for Innovation and Development of Journalism (CJID) reported at least 110 verified attacks against media professionals so far in 2024, exceeding the figures of previous years, including the repression of the widely criticized media of 2013.
Among the documented cases are the prolonged arrest of the personnel of the International Center for Research Reports (ICIR), assaults on journalists who cover protests in Lagos and Abuja, and the forced closure of independent media in the northern states.
It was also present at the Martin Onoja, former managing director of the Guardian newspaper, who painted a gloomy image of the current state of research journalism and data based in Nigeria.
“Our journalism is objective, promoted by data and, in public interest. However, it is constantly under threat,” said Onoja.
“We have had to mediate in conflict zones just because we report the truth. In Nigeria today, good journalism makes you a goal,” he added.
Onoja criticized what he described as the priorities outside the government, pointing out huge expenses in infrastructure and medical tourism abroad, even when the education and media sectors remain insufficient or deliberately attacked.
“The Government pours billions on roads and airports, but leaves vulnerable media workers and broken educational systems. It is a betrayal of the same institutions that maintain democracy together,” he concluded.
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