Police led civic rights violations in 2025 - Report

State actors, particularly the Nigerian Police, were responsible for the vast majority of civic space violations recorded in Nigeria during 2025, according to a new report by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ). The report, titled “Silenced Voices, Shrinking Space: Civic Freedoms Under Pressure,” documented 245 incidents of violations across the country.

Nurudeen Salako, presenting the findings, stated that the WSCIJ monitored 54 media organizations throughout 2025. The report recorded 245 incidents, generating 570 reports across print, online, television, and radio platforms. Print media provided the most coverage, accounting for 54.2 percent of the total reports.

Of the 245 documented incidents, 219 were allegedly perpetrated by state actors, while only 26 were linked to non-state actors. The Nigerian Police alone accounted for 118 of these incidents, representing 53.9 percent of state-actor involvement. Other identified state actors included the Department of State Services, political officeholders, state governments, the Nigerian Army, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Freedom of expression emerged as the most violated civic right, followed by the right to peaceful assembly and participation. The report also highlighted that non-violent forms of repression, such as arrests, detention, intimidation, and restrictions on media coverage, were more prevalent than physical violence. March recorded the highest number of violations, largely attributed to political controversies surrounding the suspension of Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and the political crisis in Rivers State.

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The Nigerian Police accounted for 118 out of the 219 incidents involving state actors. That is 53.9 per cent and shows how critical the police are to the civic space challenges we are facing.