The rights we hold offline must hold online too. FDJ works to ensure that freedom of expression, access to information, and the right to organise are fully protected in Nigeria’s digital spaces, treating connectivity as a gateway to fundamental rights rather than a privilege to be switched off.
What this looks like in Nigeria
The constitutional position is not in doubt. Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, and Nigeria is bound by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The difficulty is not the text of the law. It is what happens between an arrest and a trial.
In practice, a Nigerian who posts something inconvenient can be arrested within days, moved hundreds of kilometres from home, remanded while a bail application is adjourned, and released months later without any court ever deciding whether the post was lawful. The process becomes the punishment, and the charge sheet does the work a conviction never has to.
One provision recurs more than any other. Section 24 of the Cybercrimes Act criminalises messages sent to cause “annoyance”, “ill-will” and similar states of mind. In March 2022 the ECOWAS Court of Justice held that the section was arbitrary and incompatible with Nigeria’s obligations on freedom of expression, and directed that it be amended. It continues to appear on charge sheets.
How we work
We litigate, and we use each case to press on the provision behind it. A journalist, an influencer, a musician and a social critic have nothing in common except that what they said online became a matter for the police rather than a civil court — and in every one of those cases, the same section was the instrument.
- Stanley Ugagbe, an investigative reporter held at Kuje over three published reports.
- Justice Crack, prosecuted over posts about how soldiers are fed.
- Rolex Dee, a musician whose dispute with another musician became a cybercrime prosecution.
- Denis Odama, arrested in Lagos over a Facebook comment and remanded in Calabar.
Alongside the courtroom work we make submissions on legislation, document how these powers are used, and run public education so that people know what the law actually permits before they need a lawyer.
If you have been arrested, detained or charged over something you published online, you can report a case to us. You can also read how our legal aid work operates.