The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Afam Osigwe, SAN, has raised concerns over the alleged misuse of the Cybercrimes Act to suppress free speech in Nigeria, describing it as a deliberate muzzling of expression under the pretext of combating cybercrime and defamation.
In an interview on ARISE Television’s Prime Time programme on Wednesday, Osigwe criticised what he described as the weaponisation of the law against critics, journalists, activists and ordinary citizens who voice dissent online or offline.
He said individuals are being charged, investigated and detained for alleged cybercrimes or criminal defamation, even in cases where such offences are ordinarily bailable.
According to Osigwe, the judiciary is complicit in this trend.
“Free speech is being muzzled in Nigeria under the guise of charging people to court and investigating them for cyber crime and criminal defamation.
“Even when the matters are ordinarily bailable, judges and magistrates are increasingly appearing to be tools in the hands of politicians and ‘big men’ and refuse bail even where there is no basis for not granting bail,” he said.
The NBA president warned that such actions transform the courts into “an oppressive tool.”
“This is a violation of the right to freedom of expression and an abuse of the democratic space.
“Because these public office holders should be held to a higher standard of accountability, and if they deprive people of the ability to criticise and hold them to account, then democracy dies.
“If our judges become willing tools in giving them that which they desire, which is to put those people out of circulation, then there’s something wrong and the judiciary becomes a willing tool in the hands of the oppressors and thereby becomes an oppressor itself,” he said.
Osigwe’s remarks come amid ongoing debates about the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act.
Originally enacted in 2015 and amended in 2024, the law seeks to address online fraud, cyberterrorism and related offences.
However, critics argue that provisions of the Act criminalising “cyberstalking” remain vaguely worded and are frequently misused to target journalists, activists and other citizens for sharing opinions or exposing corruption.