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The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) have called for the suspension of the implementation of the Cybercrimes Act.
At a press briefing in Lagos, the groups said the Cybercrime Act and other regulatory tools are being used to stifle dissent and criminalise journalism that criticises the government.
According to the Deputy Director of SERAP, Kolawole Oluwadare, Section 24 of the Cybercrimes Act, despite its 2024 amendment, is a legal bludgeon routinely used against journalists, bloggers, activists, and even ordinary citizens for expressing opinions online.
“We are deeply concerned about the growing use of legislation to silence dissent. The authorities continue to deploy Section 24 to target Nigerians for exercising their constitutionally guaranteed rights,” Oluwadare said.
He revealed tactics used to intimidate journalists and social media users to include extrajudicial arrests, malicious prosecutions, enforced disappearances, and unlawful surveillance.
“People have been arrested and charged simply for posts in WhatsApp alumni groups. This is no longer just repression—it’s absurd and dangerous,” he remarked.
Faulting the 2024 amendment of the Cybercrimes Act, Oluwadare said it fell short of aligning with a 2022 judgment by the ECOWAS Court of Justice, which ruled Section 24 of the original law as vague, arbitrary, and in violation of international human rights treaties such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
In his remarks, the General Secretary of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Dr Iyobosa Uwugiaren, said the problematic provisions of the act must be repealed or revised in line with international and domestic human rights law in mind.
“We urge President Tinubu to ensure that no journalist, blogger, or activist is arrested, detained, or harassed simply for doing their job,” Uwugiaren said.
“The government must demonstrate a genuine commitment to the rule of law and press freedom,” he added.
Uwugiaren revealed that the guild has set up a committee comprising senior editors and media executives to identify laws currently impeding journalistic freedom.
A former Managing Director of The Guardian newspaper, Martin Onoja, lamented that investigative and data-driven journalism in Nigeria is under threat.
“Our journalism is factual, data-driven, and in the public interest. Yet, it is constantly under threat,” Onoja said.
“We’ve had to mediate in conflict zones just because we reported the truth. In today’s Nigeria, good journalism makes you a target,” he added.
He also lamented that the government focuses on roads and airports but leaves media workers vulnerable and the education systems broken.
“It’s a betrayal of the very institutions that hold democracy together,” he said.
