Nine Nigerian civil society organisations (CSOs) have expressed deep concern at what they term “practices by the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari which collectively have established a growing culture of executive lawlessness and intolerance that is eroding [human] rights and liberties and, if uncorrected, is certain to undermine the principles of democratic governance in the country.”
In a joint statement, the CSOs decried what they described as “state repression of critics of government policies and practices… and of media practitioners for doing their constitutionally protected work of investigating and reporting on these policies and practices.” They also flagged the “wilful flouting by state agencies of competent orders issued by lawfully-constituted courts in respect of the rights and liberties of these critics and media practitioners in their detention by these agencies or their trial before the courts.”
The organisations issued a five-point call on the government, including to cease the persecution of these critics and media practitioners, drop all current prosecution of such persons, and release all persons they designated as political prisoners, including Omoyele Sowore, Olawale Bakare, Agba Jalingo, and Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.
They asked the government also to respect all court orders concerning the rights of these persons, and desist from “the criminalisation of lawful exercise of constitutional rights by citizens, mass media organisations, or media practitioners,” including by the use of anti-terrorism and treason laws.
In the preamble to the statement, the CSOs presented a set of principles undergirding their viewpoint on the relationship between the citizens of Nigeria and their government. This includes that “the purpose for which the people of [Nigeria] fought for national liberation from British colonialism and have fought for decades against military and authoritarian rule in its various forms has been so that they may govern their affairs democratically under a political and socio-economic order that enables them to enjoy all their human rights, to live in dignity and peace, to enjoy freedom from poverty and ignorance, and to develop their life-affirming and freedom-expanding potentials to the full extent possible in all areas of human endeavour.” They concluded that the legitimacy of any government in Nigeria stands or falls on the extent to which it advances this purpose and, more specifically, protects and respects the rights and liberties already won at “an extremely high price, including the loss of life, liberty, and limbs by large numbers of activists and ordinary Nigerians.”
The organisations demonstrated their claim of a culture of executive lawlessness and repression of political dissent under the Buhari administration by citing a number of current cases. These included principally those of Messrs. Omoyele Sowore and Olawale Bakare and Mr Agba Jalingo, but they also included eight other cases of the arrest and maltreatment of media practitioners since the start of 2019.
The Department of State Security (DSS) has held Sowore and Bakare in detention since August 3 and 5 respectively in connection with the #RevolutionNow protests of August 5, and charged them with money laundering, treason, and cyber-stalking President Buhari. The DSS have failed to release Sowore and Bakare despite their have obtained rulings granting them bail by two justices of the federal high court in Abuja, first on September 24 by Justice Taiwo Taiwo and then on November 6 by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu. The agency only released them on December 5 when Justice Ojukwu ordered their release within twenty-four hours. Their liberty was fleeting, however: the very next day as they and their counsel, Mr Femi Falana, were before Justice Ojukwu to give a report of compliance by the DSS, officers of the agency stormed the court and violently took Mr Sowore back into detention.
Mr Agba Jalingo, the publisher of the online news medium CrossRiverWatch, has been in detention in Calabar since his August 22 arrest by the Nigeria Police Force following a complaint by the Cross River Microfinance Bank titled “Conspiracy to cause unrest and conduct likely to cause breach of peace.” The online medium had published a July 17 report with the title “How Ayade approved and diverted N500m for Cross River Microfinance Bank”, in which it requested Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade to explain the whereabouts of the money. Held without charge for seven days, Jalingo was finally charged on August 30 at the federal high court in Calabar with treason, disturbance of the peace, and terrorism for allegedly planning with Mr Omoyele Sowore, a certain Prince Ekanem Ekpo, and unnamed cult members at large to commit unlawful acts to remove Governor Ayade from office. He was arraigned on September 25 before Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court in Calabar — after he had been 34 days in police detention and had reportedly begun to suffer health problems. Justice Amobeda denied his bail application on October 4 and on October 23 acceded to the prosecution’s request for a secret trial and anonymity for their witnesses. The secret trial commenced on November 12, with the expulsion of journalists, Mr Jalingo’s friends, associates, family members, and even three lawyers on his defence team.
In addition to these cases which the organisations cited as evidence of “a growing culture of executive lawlessness and political intolerance” under the Buhari Administration, the listed another eight of media repression in 2019 alone. These include:
- The January 6 storming of the Daily Trust in Abuja by armed military men
- The closure of Jay FM radio station in Jos, Plateau State by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on March 1 for allegedly “inciting broadcasts” liable to “lead to breakdown of law and order in the state”
- The arrest of Obinna Don Norman on March 1 for allegedly defaming and harassing Abia State senator Theodore Orji
- The detention, harassment, and assault on journalists across the country on March 9 while they were covering the governorship and state legislative elections that held on that day
- The March 30 arrest of Jones Abiri, the editor and publisher of the Weekly Source newspaper, in the Bayelsa state capital, Yenagoa by unidentified security officers
- The police arrest of about four journalists on August 5 while covering the #RevolutionNow protests
- The flogging of two journalists by police officers in Uyo while they were covering a protest there
- The trial of journalists Joe Ogbudu and Prince Amour Udemudu for criminal defamation and disturbing the peace for the investigation of the role of oil revenue corruption in the community violence in Uzere, Delta State
The nine CSOs held that the “intended criminalisation of the legitimate exercise of the constitutional rights of dissent by citizens…or of media freedom to investigate and report on the policies and practices of the government and other powerful interests” as expressed in these ten cases “will cripple the ability of citizens to hold the government accountable and foster a regime of authoritarian governance [and] undermine the aspiration of Nigerian citizens to live in dignity, peace, and unity in a democratic society that enables them to realise their best potentials to the fullest extent possible.” To remedy this situation, they issued calls on the Buhari administration, ordinary Nigerians, and Nigeria’s development, investment, and diplomatic partners.
- Cease the persecution of critics of government policies and programmes as well as of traditional and online media practitioners who investigate and report on those policies and programmes
- Drop all on-going or pending prosecution of such critics and practitioners
- Release all political prisoners, including but not limited to the following:
- Omoyele Sowore
- Olawale Bakare
- Agba Jalingo
- Ibrahim El-Zakzaky
- Respect all court rulings or orders concerning the rights and liberties of such critics and practitioners
- Desist from the criminalisation of lawful exercise of constitutional rights by citizens, mass media organisations, or media practitioners, especially the use of anti-terrorism and treason laws to persecute these citizens, organisations, or practitioners
They also called on Nigerian citizens to:
- Write to President Muhammadu Buhari and the senators and House of Representatives members for their state to:
- Respectfully express their concerns about the culture of executive lawlessness and political intolerance under the present Administration
- Call upon the federal government and all state governments to:
- Cease the persecution of critics of government policies and programmes as well as of traditional and online media practitioners who investigate and report on those policies and programmes
- Drop all on-going or pending prosecution of such critics and practitioners
- Release all political prisoners, including but not limited to the following:
- Omoyele Sowore
- Olawale Bakare
- Agba Jalingo
- Ibrahim El-Zakzaky
- Respect all court rulings or orders concerning the rights and liberties of such critics and practitioners
- Desist from the criminalisation of lawful exercise of constitutional rights by citizens, mass media organisations, or media practitioners, especially the use of anti-terrorism and treason laws to persecute these citizens, organisations, or practitioners
- Publish articles on traditional and online media to express their concerns about that culture
- Initiate and/or participate in peaceful and lawful public activities such as demonstrations, rallies, and boycotts to express those concerns
Finally, they called on Nigeria’s partners in development, investment, and diplomacy to:
- Write to President Buhari to:
- Express their concerns about the persisting and growing culture of executive lawlessness and political intolerance of dissent and criticism
- Call upon his Administration to:
- Cease the persecution of critics of government policies and programmes as well as of traditional and online media practitioners who investigate and report on those policies and programmes
- Drop all on-going or pending prosecution of such critics and practitioners
- Release all political prisoners, including but not limited to the following:
- Omoyele Sowore
- Olawale Bakare
- Agba Jalingo
- Ibrahim El-Zakzaky
- Respect all court rulings or orders concerning the rights and liberties of such critics and practitioners
- Desist from the criminalisation of lawful exercise of constitutional rights by citizens, mass media organisations, or media practitioners, especially the use of anti-terrorism and treason laws to persecute these citizens, organisations, or practitioners
- Review their partnerships with the Nigerian government to make them contingent on the government’s performance regarding respect for human rights, democratic principles, rule of law, and tolerance of political dissent
The civil society statement was issued by the leaders of:
- Alliance for Defence of Democracy (Prof Anthony Kila and Lady Funke Awolowo)
- Asoro Centre for Development and Citizenship (Osaze Lanre Nosaze, Executive Director)
- Coalition for Revolution (Seni Ajayi, Co-Convener)
- Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (Osagie Obayuwana, National President)
- Federation of Informal Workers’ Organisations of Nigeria (Gbenga Komolafe, General Secretary)
- Movement for Fundamental Change (Oloye Adeniji)
- Moyo Pan-Afrikan Solidarity Centre (Affiong L. Affiong, Executive Director)
- Social Action Centre (Isaac “Asume” Osuoka, Executive Director)
- Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, Executive Director)