Nigeria has been ranked as one of the African nations with the highest number of imprisoned journalists, placing seventh behind Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Rwanda, and Tunisia.
This was revealed in the 2024 prison census report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which recorded that at least 67 journalists were behind bars across Africa as of December 1, 2024, due to their professional activities.
The report highlighted that the number of detained journalists in Africa in 2024 slightly decreased from 68 in 2023 but marked an increase compared to the 57 recorded in 2022.
According to the CPJ, Egypt led with 17 jailed journalists, followed by Eritrea with 16, Ethiopia with six, and Cameroon, Rwanda, and Tunisia with five each. Nigeria imprisoned four journalists, while Algeria jailed two. Angola, Burundi, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Madagascar, Guinea, and Senegal each detained one journalist.
The report noted, “Most of the journalists detained in Africa are facing charges related to anti-state activities, criminal defamation, and spreading false news.”
Eritrea was singled out as one of the worst offenders globally, with some of its detained journalists among the longest-imprisoned worldwide.
Senegal appeared in the 2024 census after journalist René Capain Bassène was found to be serving a life sentence for a crime witnesses claim he did not commit. CPJ updated its records to include him retroactively since his 2018 arrest.
The report also shed light on other concerning cases:
In Ethiopia, five journalists face potential death sentences for terrorism charges, while another has been detained without any formal charge.
South Sudanese journalist Emmanuel Monychol Akop has been held since November 2024 without a court appearance.
In Cameroon, journalists are serving prison sentences ranging from 10 to 32 years.
Sandra Muhoza in Burundi was imprisoned for a WhatsApp post.
Carlos Raimundo Alberto in Angola remains incarcerated for criminal defamation, even though he qualified for parole in mid-November 2024.
Both Nigeria and Rwanda were flagged for using cybercrime laws to detain journalists. The report also revealed allegations of mistreatment, including beatings, by journalists imprisoned in Rwanda and Senegal.
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