Defamation and Online Harassment Laws in Nigeria

Nigeria follows the English common-law tradition: the Interpretation Act keeps the common law of England, the doctrines of equity and the English statutes of general application in force on 1 January 1900 in force for matters within federal legislative competence, subject to federal law. The Criminal Code Act keeps existing civil rights of action alongside its offences. The Code defines defamatory matter as material likely to injure a person's reputation by exposing them to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or to damage them in their profession or trade, whether spoken, written or conveyed by signs, directly or by insinuation or irony.

Sources1Interpretation Act (Cap. I23 LFN 2004), s. 322Criminal Code Act (Cap. C38 LFN 2004), s. 5 and Schedule, s. 373

Under the Criminal Code, publishing defamatory matter is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for one year, or two years if the publisher knew it was false. Publishing, threatening to publish, or offering not to publish defamatory matter in order to extort money, property or another benefit is a felony punishable by imprisonment for seven years. The Criminal Code Act has been repealed in the northern states, where a separate Penal Code applies.

Sources2Criminal Code Act (Cap. C38 LFN 2004), s. 1A and Schedule, ss. 375-3763Penal Code (Northern States) Federal Provisions Act (Cap. P3 LFN 2004), repeal of Cap. C38 in the Northern States

Under the Criminal Code, publishing defamatory matter is not an offence if it is true and published for the public benefit. Publication is absolutely privileged in settings such as court proceedings, official inquiries, petitions to the President, a Minister or a Governor, and official documents issued by them. Fair reports of public proceedings, fair comment on the public conduct of people in public affairs or public service, fair comment on published works, and good-faith complaints to someone able to remedy a wrong are conditionally privileged, generally only where the publisher honestly believed the matter and did not go beyond what the occasion reasonably required.

Source2Criminal Code Act (Cap. C38 LFN 2004), Schedule, ss. 377-379

The Cybercrimes Act defines cyberstalking as a course of conduct aimed at a specific person that would make a reasonable person feel fear. Section 24(1), headed cyberstalking, was narrowed in 2024: it now covers knowingly or intentionally sending, through a computer system or network, a message that is pornographic, or one the sender knows is false, sent to cause a breakdown of law and order or to threaten life. The penalty is a fine of up to N7 million, up to three years in prison, or both.

Sources4Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015, ss. 24(1) and 585Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act 2024, s. 5

It is an offence to send communications through a computer system or network to bully, threaten or harass someone in a way that puts them in fear of death, violence or bodily harm; the penalty is a prison term of 10 years, a minimum fine of N25 million, or both. Threatening online to harm someone's property or reputation, or to accuse them of a crime, in order to extort money or anything of value carries a prison term of 5 years, a minimum fine of N15 million, or both. A court dealing with a conviction can order the defendant to stop further harassment, and it can make an interim order to protect the victim.

Source4Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015, s. 24(2)-(6)