The right to assemble and organise extends to digital spaces. We defend the ability of citizens and movements to mobilise online free from surveillance, intimidation, or arbitrary restriction.
Organising online is now where protest begins
A hashtag, a group chat and a shared location are the modern equivalents of a printed handbill. Nigerian law protects assembly and association, and that protection does not stop at the point where the organising happens on a phone.
In practice, the digital trail is exactly what gets people arrested. Charges frequently rest not on anything done at a protest but on what someone posted, forwarded or coordinated beforehand.
The cases behind this work
The lawyers who make up FDJ have acted for people caught in successive waves of this: individuals arrested during the #EndSARS protests of October 2020, people detained during the #EndBadGovernance protests — including children charged with treason — and others prosecuted under cybercrime provisions for what they said online.
We have also acted in proceedings arising from a Commissioner of Police declaring a prominent activist wanted over a planned protest — an event that had not yet happened.
The influencer known as Justice Crack was prosecuted over posts about soldiers’ welfare. The social critic Denis Odama was arrested in Lagos over a Facebook comment, moved to Calabar and remanded.
What we do
- Represent people arrested or charged over online organising.
- Challenge pre-emptive measures that treat planning a protest as an offence.
- Press for the right to organise without surveillance of private communications.
- Give organisers practical guidance on their rights before they need a lawyer.
Minors deserve particular mention. Children charged with treason after a protest is not a marginal procedural error; it is a failure that should not require litigation to correct.
If you have been arrested or threatened over organising or attending a protest, report a case to us.