In a bid to demand for justice and protection of fundamental rights of Nigerians, a coalition of journalists, civic defenders, and activists have launched “DontPoliceMySpeech” campaign in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria.
The campaign, marked by a solidarity march to the Federal Ministry of Justice, aims to end the arrest and abuse of journalists and citizens exercising their right to free speech.
Lady Ejiro Umukoro, Executive Director of LightRay! Media who led other advocates on the campaign emphasized the need to deepen the nation’s democracy to attract investors and protect the rights of citizens and inspire patriotism.
According to her “the abuse of the Cybercrime Law as a tool to censor, gag, control, deny, abuse, and harass citizens and journalists alike is unconscionable. More so when journalists are risking their lives in the line of duty to inform and protect both citizens and those in power or leadership”.
She decried the incessant arrest of media professionals during Nigeria’s 2023 presidential, governorship and other elections where at least 14 journalists and media workers faced detention, harassment, or attacks while covering the events.
The group called for an end to the criminalization of journalism in which they described as an illegality that can no longer be condoned.
The protest was embarked by Lady Ejiro Umukoro of LightRay Media, Shirley Ewang, Lead Advocate at Gatefield, and Mojirayo Ogunlana-Nkanga, Digital Media Legal Expert
Other civil society organizations that were part of protests were Accountability Lab Nigeria, Dataphyte Foundation, Humangle Media, Tap Initiative, DigiCivic Initiative, Follow Taxes, More Branches, Femme Mag, Paradigm Initiative, Invictus Africa, Marie Claire Nigeria, and Document Women.
Courtesy: Norah Okafor
