Police, State Security Forces Behind Majority of 2025 Civic Rights Violations — WSCIJ Report

State actors, led by the Nigerian Police Force, were responsible for the overwhelming majority of civic space violations recorded in Nigeria throughout 2025, according to a report released by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ).

The center’s annual status report, titled “Silenced Voices, Shrinking Space: Civic Freedoms Under Pressure,” documented a sharp rise in infractions against citizens, journalists, and activists, revealing a total of 245 distinct incidents of civic space violations across the country during the year.

The findings were presented by Nurudeen Salako during a media event in Lagos following a year-long monitoring exercise of 54 print, online, television, and radio media outlets.

The report highlighted that state actors were implicated in 219 out of the 245 documented cases (89.4%), while non-state actors such as political thugs and organized civilian groups accounted for 26 incidents. The Nigerian Police was identified as the primary offender, responsible for 118 incidents (53.9% of all state-driven violations). Other state agencies cited include the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Army, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), state governments, state-owned universities, and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

Freedom of expression emerged as the most frequently infringed civic right, followed by the rights to peaceful assembly and public participation. Non-violent repression accounted for 59.2% (145 incidents) involving administrative actions, arbitrary arrests, detentions, threats, and media restrictions, while physical violence accounted for the remaining 40.8% (100 incidents) involving physical attacks, assaults, harassment, and killings.

March 2025 recorded the highest monthly total with 37 violations (15.1% of the annual figure), a spike largely attributed to public demonstrations linked to the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and the political crisis in Rivers State.

Ordinary citizens bore the brunt of civic rights abuses, accounting for 133 incidents (54.3%), while journalists recorded 60 cases (24.5%), with activists, media organizations, and labor unions making up the rest. Geographically, the Federal Capital Territory recorded the highest concentration of infractions with 58 cases, followed by Lagos State. The center noted that lower recorded numbers in states such as Zamfara and Katsina likely reflect under-reporting or fear of reprisal rather than an absence of violations.

The 2025 figures indicate a significant upward trajectory in civic space suppression compared to previous monitoring cycles, rising from 134 incidents in 2023 and 103 in 2024 to 245 in 2025. In response, WSCIJ officials urged security agencies to abide by constitutional guarantees, while calling on media organizations and civil society groups to expand data-driven reporting, legal protection, and monitoring to safeguard public freedoms.