Zainab Sodiq: Wetin Nigeria laws tok about to get and fly drones

Published
Read am in 5 mins

Nigeria human rights activist Omoyele Sowore don raise alarm sake of di arrest and detention of Zainab Sodiq, a journalist wey dey always cover Sowore activities, by officers of di Department of State Services (DSS).

Sowore claim say di arrest no be really about Zainab but na just to target im bicos di DSS know say di journalist dey connected to im.

However, di DSS don release statement to tok say dem detain and dey investigate Zainab based on say dem see drone for her hand witout di correct authorisation.

For dia Statement, di DSS tok say dia agents for di Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, bin first hold Zainab on 6 July 2026, "wit an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (a.k.a drone), going to Abuja, witout an End User Certificate".

Dem later allow her to kontinu her journey, but dem tell her to report to di DSS headquarters for Abuja on Wednesday to ansa more questions.

"Investigation don start. Dis action na sake of di global and domestic security concerns wey dey associated wit di operation of drones, especially issues of privacy breaches and safety of individuals," di DSS tok.

But shey na offence to get drone or operate am for Nigeria? Here na wetin di law tok:

Skip content and continue reading

End of content

Di Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations 2023

Di Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) na dem dey regulate evritin about di Nigeria airspace, and dis also include Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or Remotely Piloted Aircrafts (RPAs), wey pipo just know as drones.

Part 21 of NCAR 2023 na dia dem tok about requirments for certification, registration, operation, and surveillance of drones.

Di regulation divide di different types of drones into categories based on dia weight, so e get nano, micro, small, medium or large.

Also, di operation of drones get categories like: open, specific or certified. Dis na wetin go determine di level of clearance wey person suppose get to operate drones and for which purpose.

Here na some of di provisions of di law:

Registration:

  • Pesin no go fit operate civil aircraft, including unmanned aircrafts (drone) unless di pesin don first register am wit di NCAA and dem issue am certificate of registration
  • Di owner or operator of di aircraft must to be in possession of dat certiciate evri time di drone dey in operation
  • Pesin wey dey permited to own drones na: Nigerian citizens, foreigner wey get permanent residency for Nigeria, corporations wey dey registered and dey do business for Nigeria, and govment entity of Nigeria
  • A foreigner fit also lease drone to a Nigerian or Nigeria govment agency, and dat dron go dey allowed to operate as long as e go dey registered and di certificate go include di name and address of di owners and operators of di drone

Operation:

  • Drone operators must to get certificate wey go give dem authority to operate di drone
  • Dis certificate dey renewable evri five years to make sure say di operator still dey comply wit di regulation
  • Sake of national security concerns, di NCAA regulation make am compulsory for di operator to get security clearance and end-user certification, to make reduce di risk of criminal or terrorist activities

Restrictions:

  • Drones no suppose to fly for certain areas like restricted zones, international airspace, places wey prioritize manned aircraft (airports), etc
  • Limitations also dey on drones flying ova pipo, or flying for night time
  • In case of accidents, safety breaches, or unlawful interference, di remote pilot dey required to report such incidents to di authorities
  • Na offence for pesin to use drones to drop objects wey go dey hazardous to pipo or property
  • Evri dron suppose get insurance cover wey dey commensurate wit di risk level of di activity wey di drone dey do
  • Na offence to use drones for surveillance or to film pipo or private property witout consent

However, dis NCAA regulation 2023, no tok clearly about di punishment wey pesin fit face for disobeying any of di provisions of di regulations.

For dis particular case of Zainab Sodiq, Omoyele Sowore don tok say di drone na im own, say Zainab just dey help am to bring di drone from lagos to Abuja.

E neva dey clear weda Sowore register di dron wit di NCAA according to di regulation, and e also no dey clear weda im bin dey operate di drone witout authorisation.

Di use of drones for Nigeria do increase and e don dey important for several sectors like filmmaking, logistics, agriculture, security and even for disaster response like flooding.

BBC News Pidgin bin don tell di tori of how one organisation dey use drones to deliver medications quickly to rural riverine areas for Bayelsa State, making sure say pipo wey need di medications get am wen dem need am.

However, di BBC don also report about how Al-Qaeda and IS terrorists dey use drones to carry out attacks for Nigeria and oda west African kontris.