Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using any part of the The Providence News platform — including our website, mobile applications, newsletters, and editorial tools (collectively, the “Services”) — you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be legally bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference.

If you are using the Services on behalf of an organisation, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that organisation to these Terms, and references to “you” include both you personally and that organisation.

If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use our Services.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 16 years of age to use our Services. By using our Services, you represent that you meet this age requirement. If you are between 16 and 18 years of age, you represent that your parent or guardian has reviewed and agreed to these Terms on your behalf.

Access to certain features — including paid membership tiers and editorial tools — may be restricted to users of specific ages, roles, or jurisdictions as notified at the point of access.

3. Account Registration

To access certain features you must register for an account. When registering, you agree to:

• Provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration
• Maintain and promptly update your account information to keep it accurate
• Keep your password confidential and not share access credentials with any third party
• Notify us immediately at security@theprovidencenews.com if you suspect unauthorised access to your account
• Accept responsibility for all activity that occurs under your account credentials

The Providence News reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts that contain false information, are inactive for a period exceeding 24 months, or are found to be in breach of these Terms.

4. Subscriptions and Payment

4.1 Subscription Plans

We offer free and paid subscription tiers. Paid memberships grant access to premium content, an ad-free experience, and other benefits as specified at the point of purchase. Feature availability may change over the subscription period with reasonable notice.

4.2 Billing and Renewal

Paid subscriptions are billed in advance on a monthly or annual cycle. Subscriptions automatically renew at the end of each billing period unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the renewal date. You authorise us to charge your payment method on file for each renewal period.

4.3 Cancellations and Refunds

You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period — you retain access to paid features until that date. We do not offer pro-rated refunds for partial billing periods, except where required by applicable consumer protection law.

4.4 Price Changes

We reserve the right to modify subscription prices. We will provide at least 30 days' written notice of any price increase before it affects your account. Your continued use of the Services after the effective date of a price change constitutes acceptance of the new price.

5. User Obligations

In using our Services, you agree to:

• Use the Services only for lawful purposes and in compliance with all applicable local, national, and international laws and regulations
• Respect the intellectual property rights of The Providence News and third parties whose content appears on our platform
• Not attempt to circumvent, bypass, or disable any access control, metering, or paywall mechanism
• Not use automated tools, scrapers, bots, or scripts to access, index, or extract content from our platform without prior written consent
• Not impersonate any person or entity, including The Providence News journalists, editors, or staff
• Not engage in any conduct that disrupts, degrades, or impairs the performance or availability of our Services
• Comply with any applicable professional or regulatory obligations if using our editorial tools in a journalistic capacity

6. Prohibited Conduct

The following conduct is expressly prohibited and may result in immediate account termination and, where applicable, referral to law enforcement:

• Publishing, transmitting, or storing content that is defamatory, obscene, fraudulent, or in violation of any third party's rights
• Attempting to gain unauthorised access to any system, database, or account belonging to The Providence News or its users
• Introducing malicious code, viruses, or other harmful software into our platform or infrastructure
• Using our Services to transmit unsolicited commercial communications (spam)
• Misrepresenting the source, origin, or authorship of any content on our platform
• Reselling, sublicensing, or commercially exploiting access to our Services without prior written authorisation
• Conducting any form of systematic or automated data collection including screen scraping or data mining

7. Intellectual Property

7.1 The Providence News Content

All content published on our platform — including but not limited to articles, photographs, graphics, video, audio, data compilations, and software — is the exclusive property of The Providence News Limited or its licensors and is protected by Nigerian, UK, EU, and international copyright, trademark, and related intellectual property laws.

The Providence News name, wordmark, and editorial masthead are registered trademarks. Unauthorised use of our trademarks is strictly prohibited.

7.2 Permitted Personal Use

We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access and view our content solely for your personal, non-commercial use. This licence does not include the right to:

• Reproduce, distribute, or publicly display any content without prior written consent
• Modify, adapt, or create derivative works from our content
• Use our content for commercial purposes, including training machine learning or AI models
• Remove, alter, or obscure any copyright, trademark, or proprietary notices

7.3 Syndication and Licensing

Requests for content syndication, republication, translation, or commercial licensing should be directed to syndication@theprovidencenews.com. Unauthorised republication — including full-text reproduction on third-party platforms — constitutes copyright infringement and will be pursued accordingly.

7.4 AI and Machine Learning

The use of any The Providence News content — in whole or in part — to train, fine-tune, evaluate, or otherwise develop artificial intelligence or machine learning models is expressly prohibited without a separately negotiated written licence agreement. This prohibition applies regardless of whether such use is commercial or non-commercial.

8. User-Submitted Content

If you submit content to us — including letters, comments, tip-offs, photographs, or any other material — you grant The Providence News a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive licence to use, reproduce, publish, and distribute that content across all media, including for editorial and promotional purposes.

You represent and warrant that you own or have the necessary rights to the content you submit, and that your submission does not infringe any third party's rights or violate any applicable law. The Providence News reserves the right to remove any submitted content at its editorial discretion, without notice or liability.

9. Third-Party Links and Services

Our platform may contain links to third-party websites, services, or resources. These links are provided for informational purposes only. The Providence News does not endorse, control, or accept responsibility for the content, privacy practices, or terms of any third-party site. You access third-party sites at your own risk and subject to their own terms and privacy policies.

10. Disclaimer of Warranties

Our Services are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

The Providence News does not warrant that the Services will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of viruses or other harmful components, or that defects will be corrected. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or currency of any content published on our platform, though we maintain rigorous editorial standards as described in our Editorial Standards.

Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded under applicable consumer protection law.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, The Providence News Limited and its officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors, and suppliers shall not be liable for any:

• Indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages
• Loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill, or business opportunities
• Damages arising from your reliance on content published on our platform
• Damages resulting from unauthorised access to or alteration of your data
• Damages resulting from interruption or cessation of our Services

In all cases, our total aggregate liability to you for any claim arising out of or related to these Terms or the Services shall not exceed the greater of: (a) the total fees paid by you to The Providence News in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) ₦50,000 (fifty thousand Naira).

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain categories of damages. In such jurisdictions, our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted by law. This limitation of liability applies regardless of the theory of liability — whether contract, tort, statute, or otherwise.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless The Providence News Limited and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in any way connected with:

• Your access to or use of the Services
• Your violation of these Terms
• Your violation of any third party's rights, including intellectual property rights
• Any content you submit to our platform
• Your breach of any applicable law or regulation

13. Termination

13.1 Termination by You

You may terminate your account at any time by navigating to your account settings and selecting “Delete Account”, or by contacting us at members@theprovidencenews.com. Account deletion takes effect within 5 working days. Data is handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

13.2 Termination by The Providence News

We reserve the right to suspend or permanently terminate your account and access to the Services, with or without notice, for any of the following reasons:

• Breach of these Terms or our editorial policies
• Conduct that we reasonably determine poses a risk to other users, our platform, or our reputation
• Non-payment of applicable subscription fees following a cure period of 14 days
• Requests from law enforcement or regulatory authorities
• Extended account inactivity (greater than 24 months)

Upon termination, your right to use the Services ceases immediately. Provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination — including Intellectual Property, Disclaimer of Warranties, Limitation of Liability, and Indemnification — shall survive.

14. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, without regard to its conflict of law principles.

Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services shall first be submitted to good-faith mediation administered by the Lagos Court of Arbitration. If mediation fails within 60 days, disputes shall be resolved by binding arbitration under the Lagos Court of Arbitration Rules, with proceedings conducted in English in Lagos, Nigeria.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, The Providence News reserves the right to seek injunctive or other equitable relief in any court of competent jurisdiction to prevent irreparable harm, particularly in relation to intellectual property infringement or unauthorised access to our systems.

If you are located in the EEA or United Kingdom, you may also have the right to bring a claim before the courts of your country of residence under applicable consumer protection law.

15. Changes to These Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. When we make material changes, we will provide at least 14 days' advance notice by:

• Sending an email notification to your registered email address
• Displaying a prominent notice on our platform
• Updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page

Your continued use of the Services after the effective date of any change constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the revised Terms, you must stop using the Services and may delete your account.

16. Contact

For questions or concerns regarding these Terms, please contact our Legal team: