The recent arrests of two popular investigative journalists in Nigeria has caused an outcry among Nigerians and within journalism circles over what appears to be a crackdown on free speech by the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government, fuelling fears of a return to a dark chapter in the country’s history regarding its press freedom records.
On August 5, an investigative reporter, Isaac Tamunobiefiri Bristol Alagbariya, who had reported extensively about allegations of corruption and malfeasance in different governments, was arrested by men believed to be security operatives. Reports say he had been abducted and held captive in an undisclosed location.
A few days after Bristol’s arrest, another popular investigative reporter, Adejuwon Soyinka, who is West Africa editor of The Conversation Africa, a platform for investigative reporting, was arrested by operatives of the country’s prime domestic intelligence outfit, the Department of State Services (DSS) immediately he arrived in Nigeria from the UK.
An Ex-BBC pidgin service Editor, Soyinka was held in DSS custody at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial centre but was freed some hours later.
The arrests triggered a groundswell of condemnations. Bristol’s abduction launched a major search and reports by several media organisations and rights groups calling on the government to disclose his whereabouts and to immediately release him.
Several media organisations also condemned the arrest of Soyinka, expressing worry over the growing trend of harassment of journalists in the country.
Nigeria’s main opposition candidate in the last presidential elections and former Vice-President of the country, Atiku Abubakar, accused the Tinubu-led government of turning “against the people by allowing the Department of State Services, DSS, the Police and even the military to abuse the rights of citizens without any consequences.”
The Foreign Press Association, Africa chapter, also came out with a statement condemning the arrest of Soyinka, saying the action was “unjustified.”
These arrests signal a worrying shift by the government towards establishing tight control over the country’s media, further entrenching its notoriety as one of the most challenging countries for journalists in West Africa. The country was ranked 112th position out of 180 countries, which was, however, an improvement from the 123rd it was ranked in 2023.
These two reporters are not the first victims of a new push against the press, especially online platforms, which demonstrates the increasing dangers pressmen face in carrying out their duties.
On March 15, a reporter, Segun Olatunji, the editor of FirstNews, was abducted by soldiers from his home in Lagos and did not regain his freedom until two weeks later.
According to reports, Olatunji was abducted by 10 armed men “two of them in military uniforms” from his home in Lagos at 6:00 pm without any explanation.
The detention of Daniel Ojukwu, a reporter with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), came on the heels of Olatunji’s ordeal.
Ojukwu was reportedly picked by the police in Lagos on May 1 and released after 10 days following a protest held at the force headquarters. His detention was also linked to an investigative report he had done about alleged graft by government officials.
There is also the case of the publisher of News Platform, an online news site, Precious Eze Chukunonso, who was arrested on May 27 in his home in Lagos, following a complaint about his reporting. He was charged with “conduct likely to cause breach of peace, provoking a breach of the peace by offensive publication and conspiracy to commit felony”
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned the arrest, describing it as “a clear act designed to intimidate and repress the media, and demands that charges against him be dropped.”
Recently, a journalist, Shafi’u Umar Tureta, who is also a special assistant to the former governor of the northern state of Sokoto, Aminu Tambuwal, was arrested allegedly on the orders of the current governor, Ahmed Aliyu.
Tureta’s crime was sharing a viral video clip of the governor’s poor elucidation while making a statement in English and another equally well-circulated clip of dollar notes being hurled at Governor’s wife during her birthday party, an act that is widely done at parties in Nigeria but has been declared illegal.
The main opposition party in the state, the PDP condemned the arrest, noting that it is “not a crime under Nigerian law to make public, videos of the governor’s public engagements or of events attended by his family, however embarrassing they may be.”
The statement also cautioned the state government of its fast-worsening human rights record, occasioned by its notoriety for harassment and assault on dissenting opinion.
While there are no confirmations, many say the removal of the Heads of the Nigeria’s top intelligence agencies may not be unconnected with these condemnations of arbitrary arrests.
The condemnations highlight the growing public outrage over the government’s draconian approach to the new media. However, some say the arrests may also be considered as government’s efforts to protect individual freedoms by preventing cyberbullying through unsubstantiated allegations.
Between cyberbullying and reporting
The detention of both men has to do with reports published by their platforms revealing secrets that exposed alleged unlawful acts by some government officials and their wards. A statement from the Nigerian Police National Cybercrime Center said Bristol was arrested for allegedly “undermining the integrity of government operations by leaking classified documents.”
Soyinka reportedly told the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), an organisation that reports on human rights abuse and corruption in Nigeria, after his release, that his arrest was because of a story he had published on how the president’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, allegedly attempted to corner the finds and properties traced by special investigator contracted by the Presidency, to a former aide to ex-president Muhammadu Buhari.
Some public commentators claim that these reports against the president’s Chief of Staff, and several allegations made by Bristol in his reports, appeared to have contravened Nigerian cyber crime laws as some were unsubstantiated and others proven to be completely false.
Nigeria’s Cybercrime laws place serious restrictions on some acts that Bristol appears to have been accused of. One source explains that, with the Cybercrime Prohibition, Prevention, and Enforcement Act, of 2015, Bristol’s charges could include character-assassination; malicious and unjustified harming Messages; cyber bullying and stalking; and intentionally transmitting fake news to incite public outrage. These are all listed as offences under the law.
Some constitutional lawyers say the security agencies’ reliance on the 2015 Cybercrimes Act to carry out these arrests constitutes human rights violations.
A law that was enacted to provide a unified legal, regulatory and institutional framework for the prohibition, prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution of cybercrimes in Nigeria is strangely being interpreted wrongly to clamp down on print and digital journalists, they say.
Analysts believe the development contradicts the provisions of Sections 22 and 39 of the country’s Constitution, which guarantees freedom of the press and freedom of expression.
The arrests of these journalists, and the implications of their reports have also raised questions about the extent and implications of the rights enjoyed by the media in Nigeria and the debate over curtailing what many describe as excesses that have exposed many Nigerians to defamation.
In July, Bristol published some damning allegations about a high-ranking traditional ruler. He accuse the monarch of defrauding people in the U.S. of tens of thousands of dollars in a real estate investment scam. The Office of the traditional ruler, however, denied all allegations, as Bristol insisted that he had several documents to corroborate his claims.
Another case was an allegation by Bristol that a state Governor’s son had been arrested for murder in India and that the Governor was attempting to bribe Indian authorities to resolve the matter through diplomatic channels.
A fact-finding study described the report as false, but it had unfortunately gone viral across various media platforms. A few days after the report was circulated, a video was released of the governor’s son stating that he was neither detained in India nor facing any murder charges, as claimed on Bristol’s online platform, @PIDOMNIGERIA.
Some official sources within the government say this is not the first time the reporter has been accused of false claims against individuals in government. In fact, several sources say that, since his arrest, several petitions have been submitted to the security agencies against him for defamation.
He would have to provide facts about the many allegations he has made against people in the Court. With the interpretations of the cybercrime laws by the authorities and the implications for online news reporting in the country, many fear the country may soon gain notoriety for the worst human rights record, if the trend continues.
I just could not leave your web site before suggesting that I really enjoyed the standard information a person supply to your visitors Is gonna be again steadily in order to check up on new posts
obviously like your website but you need to test the spelling on quite a few of your posts Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I to find it very troublesome to inform the reality on the other hand Ill certainly come back again