At least 5141 journalists have been imprisoned globally between 1992 and 2020. However, the number detained in the last decade (2010 to 2020) was 2660, which is 51.72% of total journalists imprisoned.
2020 recorded the highest of these numbers globally as 283 journalists were imprisoned. Those imprisoned in 2020 accounted for 5.5% of the total number detained from 1992 to 2020.
A breakdown shows that from 2016 to 2020, the figure of imprisoned journalists was 250 annually. It was 269 in 2016, 271 in 2017, 259 in 2018, and 258 in 2019. The total number in these five years stood at 1340, making up 26.01% of total imprisoned journalists.
China is the top country with the highest number of imprisoned journalists. In 2020, Fifty journalists were detained in China, making up 17.06% of the total imprisonments in 2020. The top five countries, China, Myanmar, Egypt, Vietnam, and Belarus accounted for 48.79% (143) of imprisonment in 2020.
Nigeria may not be in the top 5 countries but its score on the Press Freedom Index is poor, placing 120 among 180 countries in 2021. Reporters without Borders describes Nigeria as “one of West Africa’s most dangerous and difficult countries for journalists, who are often watched, attacked, arbitrarily arrested and even killed”. The federal government has refused to accept the ranking but the sheer number of laws and new legislation on the floor of the National Assembly that limit the freedom of the press say otherwise.