The Nigerian Bar Association, Enugu Branch, and civil society organisation Spaces for Change have raised concerns over what they described as the increasing use of the judiciary and legal processes to suppress civic space in Nigeria and across West Africa, particularly during periods of crisis.
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Speaking at a two-day high-level training for judges, judicial officers and state prosecutors in Enugu, the stakeholders warned that the legal system was increasingly being used as an instrument of repression rather than as a shield for fundamental rights.
The Chairman of the NBA Enugu Branch, represented by the Vice Chairman, Perpetual Chime-Okpara, emphasised that civic space is the foundation upon which democratic governance thrives.
She noted that the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association are not privileges granted by the state but fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution and international instruments.
“The existence of a crisis must never be a justification for the arbitrary restriction of fundamental rights or the abuse of state power. Judicial officers must remain impartial adjudicators, and state prosecutors must resist the temptation to weaponise criminal proceedings against perceived opponents,” Chime-Okpara stated.
The NBA’s position was reinforced by a report presented by the Executive Director of Spaces for Change, Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri, which indicated a near-700 per cent increase in what the organisation described as “judicially enabled repression” incidents across West Africa.
According to the data presented, such cases increased from nine between 2017 and 2022 to 70 between 2022 and 2024.
The report identified four principal tactics allegedly used to suppress civic dissent, including the filing of vague or politically motivated criminal charges such as treason, terrorism and cybercrime, which it said were sometimes deployed to intimidate and exhaust activists rather than secure convictions.
It also highlighted prolonged pre-trial detention as a form of punishment, citing the case of whistle-blower Nnamdi Emeh, who it said spent more than 18 months in detention despite being granted bail, and activist Emmanuel Acha, who was detained for more than 200 days in Ebonyi State.
The report further stated: “In Nigeria, the National Industrial Court restrained the Nigeria Labour Congress from striking following an ex parte government application. Most gravely, Nigerian courts accepted treason charges against minors arrested during the August 2024 nationwide economic protests. The cumulative effect is a civic environment where the legal system operates as a mechanism of fear.”
The stakeholders called for urgent judicial reforms, independent oversight and the enactment of anti-SLAPP legislation to protect civic actors from lawsuits intended to silence or intimidate them.
They also advocated sustained engagement with judicial actors on civic space trends, greater investment in digital security for activists and the inclusion of civil society organisations in counterterrorism policymaking to ensure that human rights protections are embedded in Nigeria’s national security framework.
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