By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
Coalition of Civil Societies have launched a campaign, #DontPoliceMySpeech campaign to end the arrest of Nigerian journalists and civic defenders.
The Coalition stated this Wednesday during a peaceful march involving 200 journalists, civil society organizations, and citizens.
The event which was held at the Ministry of Justice, demanded an end to infringements on freedom of expression and unlawful arrests.
This was contained in statement jointly signed by Accountability Lab Nigeria, Paradigm Initiative, SERAP, CJID
Dataphyte Foundation
Humangle Media, Tap Initiative and Gatefield.
Others are DigiCivic Initiative, Follow Taxes,
Document Women,
More Branches, Femme Mag, LightRay Media , Invictus Africa
Marie Claire and Document Women.
They said at least 25 journalists have been illegally arrested under the President Bola Tinubu administration which assumed office in May 2023. Regular citizens are not spared as well. Nigerians were all outraged by the illegal arrest and prosecution of an innocent woman, Ms. Okoli, for reviewing a tomato paste she bought with her money, using state resources.
“These cases send a disturbing message that no one is safe for expressing their opinion”.
The groups demands immediate end to police abuse of power ,
ensure justice is properly ordered and
protection of fundamental rights for all Nigerians
Speaking at the campaign,
Chairman, Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), FCT Council, Jide Oyekunle, affirmed that
Freedom of expression is entrenched in the Nigerian Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which Nigeria is a signatory.
Advocacy Lead at Gatefield, Shirley Ewang,emphasized that “The stifling of the press and public discourse is authoritarian and undermines citizens’ rights to demand accountability. “Nigerians are weary of these abuses under what is supposed to be a democratic government. We call on the Ministry of Justice to cease using taxpayers’ money to prosecute journalists for exercising their right to freedom of expression”, she stated.
The campaign is in response to to increasing attacks on journalists and online dissenters in Nigeria, a coalition of Nigerian journalists and civic space defenders
The #DontPoliceMySpeech campaign is a public demand for an end to the abuse of power and the criminalization of free speech by Nigerian authorities.
The campaign specifically highlights the misuse and weaponization of the Cybercrimes Act in a bid to silence and prevent journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens from exercising their constitutionally guaranteed rights to free speech and expression.
The Cybercrimes Act, originally designed to combat online criminal activity, has morphed into a tool for silencing dissent. Despite its recent amendment, Section 24 of the Cybercrimes Act, continues to be misused by Nigerian security agencies in violation of the Nigerian constitution.
Meanwhile, the campaign has released a public service announcement (PSA) video and a set of posters that depicted the several ways in which Nigerian security authorities have violated the rights of journalists and citizens in a bid to silence them.
