In recent times, there have been concerns from well-meaning organisations and journalists about the Nigerian government exploiting the Cybercrime Act of 2015 to clamp down on journalistic freedom and muzzle dissenting voices.

This alarming trend has sparked widespread outrage within and outside Nigeria, with critics condemning the blatant assault on the pillars of democracy and free speech.

Enacted in 2015, the Cybercrime Act was meant to safeguard Nigeria’s digital landscape but now appears to quench the fire of the press as its vague and broad provisions have provided authorities with a convenient tool to silence journalists and stifle investigative reporting.

The ambiguity of the act manipulated to weaponise to suppress critical voices and curtail press freedoms is found in Section 24, Subsection One, where it says so many things that could mean different things at different times.

THE SECTION BEING EXPLOITED

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It says: “Any person who knowingly or intentionally sends a message or other matter by means of computer systems or networks that (a) is grossly offensive, pornographic, or of an indecent, obscene, or menacing character or causes any such message or matter to be so sent; or (b) he knows to be false, for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will, or needless anxiety to another or causes such a message to be sent: commits an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not more than N7,000,000.00 or imprisonment for a term of not more than 3 years or to both such fine and imprisonment.”

In real time, the Nigerian authorities used this section to justify the arrest and incarceration of Saint Mienpamo Onitsha, the founder of online broadcaster Naija Live TV. On October 10, 2023, some police officers arrested Onitsha in the home of his friend Charles Kuboro James in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. The officers detained Mienpamo overnight before flying him out of his hometown to Abuja and charging him with cyberstalking and defamation.

Similarly, Ayodele Samuel Oloye, founder of Taraba Truth and Facts Newspaper, was arraigned before a court on November 29, 2022, for “inciting the public against the governor and defamation of character”. All he did was take up the plight of teachers who were owed 14-month salaries on a programme he anchored.

Agba Jalingo, the publisher of the online newspaper Cross River Watch, spent 174 days in detention for a story he reported in 2020. He was arrested and charged with felony and terrorism for a story published on the alleged diversion of state funds by the Cross River State government. The story’s only connection to cyberspace was its online publication.

Most recently, the police summoned Bukky Shonibare, the chairman of FIJ’s Board of Trustees, to Abuja to answer questions about cybercrime. When she turned up, they mandated her to produce ‘Fisayo Soyombo, founder and editor-in-chief of FIJ.

READ ALSO: Taraba Gov Darius Ishaku Gets Journalist Ayodele Oloye Arraigned for ‘Inciting the Public’ Against Him

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?

For sure, one cannot say what this law means when journalists are involved because it is unclear. For example, the phrase grossly offensive” or “for the purpose of causing annoyance” is so ambiguous that if a journalist writes anything which challenges the status quo, the government can deem it as “grossly offensive” or capable of causing annoyance. In this instance, the government determines what is right or wrong despite the existence of the 15 Nigerian media codes of ethics.

This act of stifling journalists’ voices by interpreting the law has no basis according to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Section 39 states that “every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information without interference”.

In 2022, Justice Keikura Bangura, the presiding justice of the Ecowas court, ruled that Section 24 of Nigeria’s Cybercrime Act is inconsistent and incompatible with Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Nigeria is a party.

A LAWYER’S VIEW OF THE LAW

Festus Ogun, a Lagos-based lawyer, told FIJ that the police and other security agencies in the country have weaponised the Cybercrime Act to wage war on freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

READ ALSO: Journalist Ayodele Oloye’s Safety Threatened After Revealing Gov Ishaku’s ‘Plans to Sell Taraba Liaison Office’

He argued that the coordinated attacks on the press in recent times have thrived because the authorities have been using the Act to clamp down on democracy.

“Because democracy dies in darkness, only a free press can point light into our darkened democracy. The Cybercrime Act statement of annoyance is vague. If an awarded contractor fails to execute a project but gets exposed for failing to perform, they can claim to be annoyed. They can charge one to court for cyberbullying,” he said.

He further called for the need to amend the Cybercrime Act, stating that it is now used as an instrument to gag and intimidate the press which is bad for our democracy.

CALLS FOR FURTHER AMENNDMENT

Although the national assembly recently amended some parts of the Cybercrime Act, the amendment did not address the dubious use of Section 24 to harass journalists, prompting further amendment calls for six civil society organisations.