The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) emerged as the state institution most frequently linked to civic space violations in 2025, with state actors responsible for almost nine out of every 10 verified incidents recorded during the year.
This was revealed in a new report by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), titled ‘Silenced Voices, Shrinking Space: Civic Freedoms Under Pressure | 2025 Journalism and Civic Space Status Report.’
The report was made available on the sidelines of the 18th edition of the WSCIJ Annual Media Lecture Series held on Monday.
It documented 245 verified cases of civic space violations between January and December 2025.
It found that state actors were responsible for 219 incidents, representing 89.4 per cent of the total, with the Nigeria Police Force involved in 54 per cent of all state-linked cases.
The report said other state institutions linked to the violations included state governments, the Department of State Services (DSS), and university managements.
“A closer examination of incidents attributed to state actors shows that the Nigeria Police Force remained the principal actor implicated in documented civic space violations during the reporting period,” the report stated.
It also showed that restrictions on civic rights no longer affect only journalists, revealing that, for the first time since the reporting series began, ordinary citizens became the largest group affected, accounting for 54.3 per cent of all documented cases, while journalists made up 24.5 per cent.
“While journalists constituted the most affected group in 2024, citizen-related incidents increased sharply in 2025, indicating that restrictions are increasingly extending beyond the media sector to affect wider forms of civic participation, public dissent, and democratic engagement,” the report stated.
Cybercrimes Act increasingly used against journalists
The WSCIJ report raised serious concerns over the growing use of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015, as amended in 2024, to suppress investigative journalism and public-interest reporting.
It said state actors increasingly relied on the law, especially the “cyberstalking” and “online harassment” provisions in Section 24, to arrest, detain, and prosecute journalists and citizens over critical reports and online comments.
According to the report, “Investigative journalism, commentary on public officials, and civic expression have increasingly been framed as forms of “cybercrime,” resulting in arrests, detentions, prosecution, harassment, and intimidation.”
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The report cited the cases of ThisDay journalist Friday Alefia, who was arrested and charged after publishing reports concerning a federal lawmaker, Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) reporter Emmanuel Uti, who was detained by the Force Criminal Investigation Department over allegations of cyberbullying linked to his investigation of a fraudulent admission scheme, and Tega Oghenedoro, also known as Fejiro Oliver, whose arrest was described as part of a growing pattern of using the law to silence the press.
It also noted that complaints by political office holders often led to arrests and prolonged detentions under the Act.
Beyond legal actions, the report found that authorities increasingly relied on non-violent methods to suppress civic freedoms. It said these accounted for 59.2 per cent, or 145 documented cases, and included arbitrary arrests, detentions, police summons and court charges.
Despite this shift, violent repression remained widespread, making up 40.8 per cent of all incidents.
The report recorded cases involving physical attacks, the use of tear gas to break up gatherings and destruction of property. It also documented at least 16 deaths across seven fatal incidents linked to protests, elections and public participation.
Abuja, Lagos record highest violations
According to the report, freedom of expression remained the most threatened civic right during the year, appearing in 172 cases or 70.2 per cent of all documented incidents.
It said the right to peaceful assembly was the second most affected, accounting for 25.3 per cent of cases, with the report blaming the frequent use of tear gas by security agencies to disperse gatherings.
The report found that violations were concentrated mainly in Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria’s political and economic centres. Abuja recorded 58 incidents, representing 23.7 per cent of the total, while Lagos accounted for 36 cases or 14.7 per cent. Delta recorded 11 incidents, Niger had nine, and Rivers recorded eight.
However, the report warned that lower figures from states such as Zamfara and Katsina should not be interpreted as an absence of violations, noting that they could reflect underreporting, limited media presence or the normalisation of repression.
The report also identified major gaps in gender documentation, with the gender of victims left unspecified in 46.53 per cent of cases and that of alleged perpetrators missing in 85.3 per cent of reports, making it difficult to design evidence-based policies.
It further observed that media coverage of civic space issues remained largely event-driven, with 88.22 per cent of reports published as straight news stories, leaving little room for follow-up investigations or deeper analysis of recurring patterns.
To address the situation, the report urged journalists and media organisations to strengthen follow-up reporting, create legal defence and safety systems for reporters, and treat civic space as a dedicated governance beat.
It also called on lawmakers to amend restrictive sections of the Cybercrimes Act, security agencies to improve human rights compliance, civil society groups to establish an early warning system for civic space threats, and the executive arm of government to publicly condemn attacks on journalists and protesters while aligning national policies with international human rights standards.
Alex is a business journalist cum data enthusiast with the Pinnacle Daily. He can be reached via ealex@thepinnacleng.com, @ehime_alex on X