The 2025 Civic Space Report by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) has recorded 245 incidents of civic space violations across Nigeria, with citizens and journalists emerging as the most affected groups, while the Nigeria Police accounted for the highest number of violations by state actors.

The report was presented at a Journalists Timeout Edition under the Centre’s Civic Space Guard programme.

Presenting highlights of the report, titled “Silent Voices, Shrinking Spaces: Civic Freedoms Under Pressure,” the Programme Officer at WSCIJ, Nurudeen Salako, said the report analysed incidents between January and December 2025 using data monitored from 54 media organisations across print, online, television and radio platforms.

According to him, although 245 distinct incidents were documented, they generated 570 media reports because many incidents were reported by multiple news outlets.

Salako said print media accounted for 309 reports, representing 54.2 per cent of total coverage, followed by online platforms with 207 reports, television with 45 and radio with nine.

He added that straight news stories accounted for 82.23 per cent of all reports, making them the dominant format for reporting on civic space violations, ahead of editorials, features, interviews, opinion articles, photographs, cartoons and videos.

The report classified the violations into four civic freedoms: freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, participation and association, with freedom of expression recording the highest number of violations.

He noted that state actors were responsible for the overwhelming majority of violations, accounting for 219 of the 245 incidents, while non-state actors were linked to 26 cases.

Among state actors, the Nigeria Police recorded 118 incidents, representing 53.9 per cent of all violations attributed to government institutions.

Other state actors identified included the Department of State Services (DSS), political office holders, state governments, state-owned universities, the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Air Force, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and other public institutions.

The report also found that non-violent violations were more prevalent than violent ones, accounting for 59.2 per cent of recorded incidents, compared with 40.8 per cent classified as violent.

According to Salako, common forms of non-violent repression included arrests, detention, intimidation, restrictions on journalists’ access to events, media sanctions and regulatory actions.

Among violent incidents, teargassing accounted for 33 per cent, killings for 23 per cent, while assaults and threats made up a significant proportion of the remaining cases.

The report further revealed that March recorded the highest number of civic space violations with 37 incidents, representing 15.1 per cent of the yearly total, followed by September with 29 cases.

Salako attributed the spike largely to public reactions surrounding the political crises involving Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and the political developments in Rivers State, which triggered widespread protests and demonstrations.

Geographically, the Federal Capital Territory recorded the highest number of violations with 58 incidents, representing 23.7 per cent of the total, followed by Lagos State.

WSCIJ Programme Officer, Mariam Alo, said the initiative encourages journalists to step away from newsroom pressures while engaging in conversations about issues shaping the profession.

She noted that the 2025 report was officially launched on July 13 during the Centre’s 18th Wole Soyinka Media Lecture, where representatives of security agencies, academia, civil society and the media deliberated on its findings.

According to her, the report documents civic space violations recorded between January and December 2025 based on incidents reported by the media. (The Nation)

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