Dozens of people killed in crackdown on #EndBadGovernance protests against high cost of living; journalists arrested, prosecuted under amended Cybercrimes Act

General

Civic space in Nigeria is rated as ‘repressed’ on the CIVICUS Monitor. In the past months, authorities have cracked down on protests against bad governance and the high cost of living, in which dozens of people were killed, while curtailing freedom of expression through continued use of the Cybercrime Act, although amended, to arrest and prosecute journalists. Furthermore, the detention of a trade union leader and the acts of intimidation towards CSOs constitute serious violations of the freedom of association.

Peaceful Assembly

#EndBadGovernance protests: dozens killed

Between 1st and 10th August 2024, thousands of young Nigerians demonstrated in nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests, also dubbed as the #EndHunger or Ten Days of Rage protests, against the high cost of living, economic hardship and endemic corruption. The protests against economic hardship, coordinated through digital activism over social media, come in a context of a crippling economic crisis, sky-high inflation, exacerbated by the removal of fuel subsidies in May 2023.

Security forces responded with excessive use of force, including rubber bullets, tear gas and live ammunition, and mass arrests of protesters. Clashes between protesters and security forces in certain localities were also reported.

According to a report by Punch Newspaper, 17 people were feared to have been killed on 1st August 2024 in Abuja, Kano, Niger, Borno, Kaduna and Jigawa. Some human rights groups have accused security forces of having killed a total of 21 people during the protests. Several states - Borno, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa and Zamfara – declared curfews in response to the protests. According to Punch newspaper, over 1,100 people were arrested and prosecuted.

Ahead of the protests, authorities had at times labelled the protests “deliberate attempts to unleash violence”. In Abuja, the high court issued an order on 31st July 2024 confining the protests to the MKO Abiola Stadium, following an ex-parte application brought before the court by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. Despite the confinement of the protests to the stadium, security forces used force to disperse people gathering in front of the stadium, including gunshots fired at six journalists who were covering the protests (see under Expression).

On 2nd September 2024, police in Abuja announced that 10 out of the 124 protesters arrested in relation to the protests in Abuja were being charged with conspiracy to commit treason, for attempting to destabilise Nigeria, seeking to remove the president, waging war against the government and inciting mutiny. The crime of treason carries a possible death penalty in Nigeria. Daji Adeyanju, the lawyer of the arrested protesters, told Human Rights Watch (HRW) that authorities refused to grant access to the 124 protesters, which includes children aged 14 to 17 years.

#FearlessInOctober protests: use of excessive force

On 1st October 2024, new protests against the high cost of living and bad governance were organised in several localities and were met with excessive force. For example, in Abuja, demonstrators, who gathered in the Utako area, were dispersed with tear gas. According to Amnesty International, security forces in many cities barricaded the protest space, while protest organisers were arrested in Kano and Plateau.

Repression of 4-year commemoration of Lekki Toll gate massacre

Protesters gathered on 20th October 2024 at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the brutal crackdown on #EndSARS protests against police brutality. Security forces dispersed the protest, arresting 22 individuals.

As reported previously on the Monitor, on 20th October 2020, military officers and police opened fire on #EndSARS protesters in Lagos - in Lekki and Alausa - killing at least 12 people.

Expression

#EndBadGovernance protests: at least 56 journalists attacked, harassed while covering protests

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 56 journalists were arrested, harassed or detained while covering the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests that took place between 1st and 10th August 2024. Reporters without Borders (RSF) documented the arrest of at least 13 journalists, and physical attacks against at least 16 journalists. According to Premium Times, at least 28 journalists were assaulted or detained on the first day of the protests.

Some of the incidents documented by CPJ and RSF include:

• On 1st August 2024, a police officer hit Premium Times reporter Yakubu Mohammed on the head with the butt of his gun, and two other police officers continued to beat him, seized his phone and threw him in a police van while Mohammed was covering the protests in Abuja. Mohamed was wearing a press vest and clearly identified himself as a journalist.
• Also on 1st August 2024, Daily Independent photojournalist Jide Oyekunle was arrested by police in Abuja, despite him identifying as a journalist.
• In Maiduguri, Borno state, at least 10 armed police officers entered the premises of Radio Ndarason Internationale with force and detained nine staff members, including its editor-in-chief and programme director, for a period of five hours. Staff members detained said later the police accused them of ‘publishing fake news’ and the radio station’s project director told CPJ he believed the detentions were in retaliation for their reporting of the protests on WhatsApp.
• In Abuja, police officers threw tear gas canisters at three journalists - Mary Adeboye of News Central TV, Samuel Akpan of The Cable news site and Adefemola Akintade of People Gazette’s news site – striking the legs of two journalists, which caused swelling.
• On 3rd August 2024, security forces fired bullets and tear gas in the direction of at least 18 journalists, several of whom were visibly wearing press vests.
• On 3rd August 2024, security forces opened fire on the car of Premium Times journalist Abdulkareem Mojeed. Mojeed and another journalist, Emmanuel Agbo, were inside the car during the incident.

Physical attacks and threats against journalists were also perpetrated by non-state actors:

• In Asaba, Delta State, at least 10 individuals, opposed to the #EndBadGovernance protests, assaulted four journalists: Monday Asayande of The Guardian, Matthew Ochei of the Punch newspaper, Lucy Ezeliora of the Pointer Newspapers, and investigative journalist Amour Udemude, whose phone was stolen by the assailants.
• On 6th August 2024, individuals armed with sticks and shovels threatened a group of journalists, including members of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), when police officers evicted them from a park where protests were planned to take place in Ojata, Lagos State.
• Also in Lagos State, unidentified armed individuals hit four journalists from News Central TV and their vehicle with sticks.

Journalists continue to be harassed, detained, arrested, prosecuted under Cybercrimes Act, despite its amendments

On 28th February 2024, President Bola Tinubu signed amendments to the 2015 Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act into law. Section 24 of the 2015 Law on the offence of cyberstalking, often used by authorities to prosecute journalists, was amended following two rulings by the ECOWAS Court, in 2020 and 2022, on the ‘vague and arbitrary nature’ of Section 24 in violation of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ordering the Nigerian state to amend the law.

The definition of cyberstalking was narrowed to apply only to messages that are pornographic or knowingly false “for the purpose of causing a breakdown of law and order, posing a threat to life, or causing such messages to be sent”, punishable with a prison sentence of up to three years. While this move was applauded by press freedom advocates as a positive move, experts still highlighted concerns about the possibility of abuse. Additionally, Section 38 remains a concern as it fails to explicitly require law enforcement to obtain a warrant before accessing “traffic data” and “subscriber information” from service providers, permitting surveillance abuses.

Despite the above amendment to the cybercrimes law, journalists continued to be arrested and prosecuted under the law, in particular investigative journalists and those reporting on corruption. According to Reporters without Borders (RSF), at least eight journalists have been summoned, detained, arrested or prosecuted under the 2015 Cybercrimes Act since the amendments entered into force:

• On 1st May 2024, police arrested Daniel Ajukwu, an investigative reporter with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (IFJ) in Lagos. He was arrested for breaching the 2015 Cybercrimes Act in relation to his reporting on alleged corruption by an official of the presidency. He was detained for ten days before being granted bail. His passport was reportedly confiscated. The arrest of Ajukwu sparked a protest before the headquarters of the police in Abuja on 9th May 2024 by the Action Group on the Protection of Civic Actors, a coalition of media and civil society groups.
• On 14th August 2024, officers from the National Cybercrime Centre of the Police (NPF-NCC) questioned FIJ editor Fisayo Soyombo for eight hours over the same report. He was reportedly released on bail. The Chair of the FIJ Board had already been questioned by NPF-NCC in March 2024.
• On 28th May 2024, officers from the National Cybercrime Centre of the Police (NPF-NCC) questioned two staff members of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) – its executive director Dayo Aiyetan and journalist Nurudeen Akewushola - for nine hours over a police investigation into cyberstalking and defamation of character. According to CPJ, the questioning related to a report published in February 2024 alleging that two former police inspectors-general were involved in illegal land sales. The NPF-NCC had summoned the two journalists to appear for questioning after a complaint was filed by one of the land developers mentioned in the report, who also filed a civil suit against ICIR.
• On 1st May 2024, the Nasarawa State Command of the Nigerian Police arrested Ibraheem Hamza Mohammed, a journalist for First News online news site, for violating the Cybercrimes Act over a report in which he alleged that a huge amount of money was stolen from the bedroom of the Governor. The journalist was granted bail on 10th May 2024. Precious Eze of News Platform was reportedly also detained under the Cybercrimes Act in May 2024, according to RSF.

Additionally, in September 2024 alone, another four journalists were arrested and charged under the Cybercrimes Act. According to CPJ, police in Lagos State arrested journalist Olurotimi Olawale, editor of the National Monitor newspaper, and Precious Eze Chukwunonso, publisher of the News Platform website, on 20th September 2024. Five days later, on 25th September 2024, journalist Rowland Olonishuwa of Herald newspaper was arrested in Kwara State while police in Ogun State arrested Newsjaunts publisher Seun Odunlami. On 27th September 2024, the four journalists were charged in a Lagos court with violating Section 24(1)(b) and Section 27 of the Cybercrimes Act for their reporting alleging that the chief executive of the Guaranty Trust Bank was involved in fraud.

On 14th October 2024, the prosecutor amended the charges against the four, who are now accused of “false and misleading allegations” on social media with the intent to “extort” and “threaten” the management of the Guaranty Trust Bank, in addition to causing “harm” to the bank’s repution under Sections 24 and 27 of the Cybercrimes Act and Sections 408, 422 and 507 of the Criminal Code.

Prior to the adoption of the amendment to the Cybercrimes Act on 28th February 2024, several other journalists were arrested under the Cybercrimes Act, including journalists Adisa-Jaji Azeez, Salihu Ayatullahi, Salihu Shola Taofeek, and Abdulrahman Taye Damilola.

Association

Intimidation of human rights CSOs: office visits, defamation lawsuit

On 9th August 2024, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) said operatives of the Nigerian police force had invaded their headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos. The police action prevented staff and participants of the Education Rights Campaign Symposium, scheduled to take place that day, from entering the building.

In the morning of 9th September 2024, heavily armed security officers, believed to be from the Department of State Services (DSS), invaded the offices of prominent rights group Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in Abuja. According to Premium Times, who spoke with witnesses, the officers initially said they were there for a ‘friendly chat’. They left shortly after SERAP allowed two officers into the office, noting that no SERAP executives were present at the time. In a statement the following day, SERAP linked the invasion to its recent call for the government to order the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to reverse an increase in petrol prices, which SERAP called “illegal and unconstitutional”.

On 17th October 2024, DSS initiated a lawsuit against SERAP over its invasion allegations, saying it has negatively affected its reputation and that of the two officers involved. DSS claims the two officers were sent to the SERAP offices to “invite its new leadership for a familiarisation meeting” in line with “its practice engaging officials of non-governmental organisations operating in the Federal Capital Territory to establish a relationship with their new leadership”. The lawsuit seeks damages of 5.5 billion Naira’s (approximately 3.3 million USD) in addition to issuing apologies.

Trade union leader arrested, released

On 9th September 2024, DSS officers arrested Joe Ajaero, president of the National Labour Congress (NLC), at the airport in Abuja, when he was about to travel to the United Kingdom to attend a labour conference. The arrest comes after Ajaero had criticised the government over hiking petrol prices and reportedly said union leaders would meet over strike action.

Ajaero was released two days later, on 11th September 2024, after hours of interrogation on alleged terrorism financing and the #EndBadGovernance protests.

Tags: Journalist attacked, Journalist arrested, positive court ruling, intimidation, HRD arrested/detained, release HRD, protest, violent protest, protesters detained/prosecuted, protesters killed, place – time restrictions, protest disruption