Nigeria is cracking down on journalists and media workers under the guise of national security.
State authorities have detained journalists and held them for questioning, and the country’s broadcast industry regulator, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), has fined and banned outlets.
In its 2024 World Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders ranked Nigeria 112 out of 180 countries, listing the country among the most challenging for journalists in West Africa. In August, no fewer than 56 journalists were harassed and attacked during anti-government protests, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
“As a journalist practicing in Nigeria, I can confidently say that the environment is far from conducive for journalists to fully exercise their press freedom,” said Kelechi Ekeledo, a reporter at the private broadcaster, Africa Independent Television.
Incidents
In 2022, after airing a documentary about attacks by armed bandits in northwest Nigeria, Trust TV was fined 5 million naira (about US$3,000) by NBC. The industry regulator said the documentary glorified the activities of bandits and undermined national security.
In a statement, Trust TV said that the documentary was in the public interest as it provided insights into the “intersection of injustice, ethnicity and bad governance as drivers of the conflict,” and its consequences for citizens .
That same year the government also threatened to sanction the BBC for airing a documentary about bandit warlords. The NBC stated again that the documentary “glorified” the activities of bandits and undermined national security.
In May 2024, Nigerian police arrested Daniel Ojukwu, an investigative journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, after he reported on a government official’s alleged financial misconduct. He spent nine days in detention.
“The average Nigerian journalist is afraid of coming in the way of security agents and agencies and most importantly, the majority of them are aware of national security concerns,” said journalist Charles Otu. He noted that government authorities have used national security as an excuse to make it harder for journalists to carry out their reporting.
Meanwhile, the country’s cybercrime law, updated earlier this year, continues to be used as a tool to crack down on journalists critical of government policies. Among other provisions, the law stipulates imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 5 million naira (US$3,000), or both, for individuals who access data “vital to national security” from a computer without authorization.
Holding conversations and dialogues
In August, the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, an investigative media nonprofit, held its monthly “Journalism & Society Conversations” which brought together stakeholders to discuss press freedom challenges, media legislation and regulatory frameworks, and the pivotal role investigative journalism plays in holding the government accountable – especially at a time when Nigerian journalists are facing harassment and detention from the government.
“Most governments hide under national security to intimidate, harass, arrest and surmount the press,” said Sarah Ayeku, a senior correspondent at a private broadcaster, TVC News. “We’ve always seen some sort of rivalry between the government and the press.”
It’s important, Ayeku noted, that newsrooms be able to report freely without governmental interference. “We cannot always have the media and the government and the media at loggerheads which we have seen in the past months,” she said. “When we take a look at what free press should be in a democratic, normal setting, we should be able to report freely and access information without restrictions.”
Otu noted that the media's efforts to hold government actors to account must take into account legal realities and considerations, for their own safety and wellbeing. “Due to the multi-dimensional roles of journalists, there’s a need for training and retraining of media practitioners to understand where their rights begin and stop, especially on issues that concern national security,” he suggested.
Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash.
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