Violations on Press freedom, freedom of expression, freedom of thought and freedom of Association and peaceful assembly have contributed largely to the shrinking of the civic space in Nigeria.
This is the crux of a report authored by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy, NED, presented in Lagos on Thursday.
The report captures incidents of ‘abuse, infractions and restrictive actions of both State and non-state actors on media freedom, freedom of expression and assault on civic space between 2019 and 2021.’
In his keynote address at the event, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana took recourse to history noting that ”successive military governments in Nigeria promulgated one decree or the other intended to stifle press freedom.”
Cases of harassment, torture and intimidation of Journalists were also prevalent at that time; a development he said was yet to abate.
Falana called on Journalists to exercise their rights as enshrined in the Constitution and refuse to be intimidated by any government or group, adding that governments will continue to deploy various tactics to shrink the civic space.
Representative of the National Human Rights Commission at the event, Halima Oyedele praised Journalists for their resilience and sacrifice in the quest to provide important information to members of the Public.
She criticised the various anti-social media bills in the Nigerian Parliament and the outrageous interpretation of existing laws by some government agencies and regulatory bodies.
The 2019-2021 SERAP report titled “SOMETHING TO HIDE?: MEDIA FREEDOM UNDER SEIGE” concludes that State actors as government entities have legally binding obligations to ensure and promote an open civic space, freedom of expression, freedom of Association and freedom of assembly in the country because Nigeria is a Democracy.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
