Tracking cases that protect freedom of expression, association, and assembly
Location: Nigeria
According to the CIVICUS Monitor, civic space in Nigeria is rated as “repressed”. In the context of Nigeria’s presidential and federal elections in February 2023, Journalists and media workers were detained, threatened, harassed or physically attacked by non-state actors such as private individuals, political groups and security forces. In the months preceding the nationwide elections, other violations have taken place such as activists’ arrests and media outlets shut down.
Freedom of peaceful assembly is restricted, with documented cases of protest disruptions, use of excessive force by police, and protestors being arbitrarily detained and even killed.
Freedom of association continues to be regularly violated with cases of human rights defenders being arrested, office raids and intimidation, and harassment being reported in the country.
For more information about the country, visit: https://monitor.civicus.org/country/nigeria/
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SERAP v. National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the Director-General of the NBC and the Minister of Information
The Nigerian government posed an indefinite ban on Twitter after the social media platform deleted tweets from the President. The case challenges this ban, arguing that it violates the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom under the Nigerian Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International…
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SERAP and the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development v. National Broadcasting Commission, Minister of Information and Culture and President of Federal Republic of Nigeria
The case discusses a directive issued by Nigeria’s National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) ordering journalists and broadcast stations to stop reporting cases like terrorist activity and kidnapping, under the threat of handing out fines and other forms of punishment.
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Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) v. Nigeria
SERAP filed a petition before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) contesting the Nigerian government’s attempt to pass two bills that would allow authorities to gag the media and impose harsh and arbitrary punishments on media personnel.