Mr Onitsha is accused of violating section 21 (1) (b) of the 2015 cybercrime act for his reporting.
Nigerian authorities should immediately release journalist Saint Meinpamo Onitsha, drop all charges against him, and reform the country’s cybercrime act to ensure it is not used to prosecute the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
After he was detained, the SSS charged Mr Onitsha with violating Nigeria’s cybercrime act and arraigned him at a federal court, according to his lawyer Benjamin Ogbara, and a copy of the charge sheet, which CPJ reviewed. The journalist is due to appear again in court on June 17 and 18, Mr Ogbara and another of Mr Onitsha’s lawyers, Wisdom Meni Adike, told CPJ.
“Saint Mienpamo Onitsha should be released immediately and permitted to continue his work. Nigeria’s Department of State Services should be protecting the public, not arresting journalists for reporting on matters of public interest,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator, from New York.
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