Nigeria Cybercrimes Act

Abuja, February 9, 2024—Authorities in Nigeria should immediately drop all charges against journalists Adisa-Jaji Azeez, Salihu Ayatullahi, Salihu Shola Taofeek, and Abdulrahman Taye Damilola, and allow them to work without fear of arrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday.  On Tuesday, police officers arrested Azeez, managing director, and Ayatullahi, editor-in-chief, of the privately owned The Informant247 news website, over…

Abuja, October 23, 2023—Authorities in Nigeria should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Saint Mienpamo Onitsha, swiftly drop all charges against him, and stop criminalizing the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday. On October 10, police officers arrested Onitsha, founder of the privately owned online broadcaster NAIJA Live TV, in the home of…

Abuja, October 3, 2023—Authorities in Nigeria should swiftly drop all charges against journalists Aiyelabegan Babatunde AbdulRazaq and Oluwatoyin Luqman Bolakale and allow them to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Tuesday. On September 11, police officers detained AbdulRazaq and Bolakale, publishers of the independent news websites Just Event Online and The Satcom…

Abuja, March 27, 2023 – A federal court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, on Monday ordered the detention of CrossRiverWatch publisher Agba Jalingo for allegedly publishing false news that caused “annoyance, ill will and insult,” in violation of Nigeria’s Cybercrimes Act, according to a report by the outlet and CrossRiverWatch editor Jonathan Ugbal, who spoke to…

Abuja, January 26, 2023 – Authorities in Nigeria should swiftly drop the cybercrime charges against journalist Agba Jalingo, cease harassing him for his work, and reform the country’s laws to ensure journalism is not criminalized, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On December 8, 2022, authorities in the southern Nigerian state of Cross River…

On October 13, 2022, police officers at Ilorin, the capital of the southern Kwara State, detained Abdulrasheed Akogun with his brother Dare Akogun on criminal charges for comments they posted in a popular WhatsApp group titled “Kwara Commission,” according to a copy of the charge sheet reviewed by CPJ and Ibrahim Sheriff Gold, a Fresh…

Abuja, July 8, 2022 – Nigerian authorities should immediately drop all charges against publisher Haruna Mohammed Salisu and reporter Idris Kamal and allow journalists to work free from legal harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.  On June 27, police in the city of Bauchi, the capital of northern Bauchi state, arrested and detained…

Abuja, Nigeria, November 15, 2021 – Nigerian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Luka Binniyat and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On November 4, police officers in Barnawa, a town in the northern state of Kaduna, arrested Binniyat, a freelance journalist who contributes to the U.S.-based news…

Abuja, September 16, 2020 – Nigerian authorities should immediately release journalist Ime Sunday Silas, drop the charges against him, and reform the country’s cybercrime act to ensure it is not used against the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On August 17, police in Uyo city, the capital of Nigeria’s southern Akwa-Ibom state,…

Abuja, June 10, 2020 – Nigerian authorities should immediately release journalist Saint Mienpamo Onitsha, drop all charges against him, and reform the country’s cybercrime act to ensure it is not used to prosecute the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 4, officers with Nigeria’s Department of State Services detained Onitsha, founder…