Representatives of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), Mariam Alo and Nurudeen Salako, Programme Officers, WSCIJ, featured live on Albarka 89.9 FM, Ilorin, one of the 26 media partners under WSCIJ’s Collaborative Media Engagement for Development, Inclusivity and Accountability (CMEDIA) project. The interview which was hosted by Dunsin Ojo Broadcast Journalist, Albraka 89.9 FM was aimed at unpacking the findings of the recently released the 2025 Journalism and Civic Space Status Report, titled Silenced Voices, Shrinking Space: Civic Freedoms Under Pressure.
Mariam who revealed the findings of the report stressed that the annual monitoring report forms a key research-based component of WSCIJ’s broader Civic Space Guard programme, which aims to protect the digital and physical environments where all citizens exercise their freedom of expression. She stated between January and December 2025, the research tracked 245 civic space violations, which were reported 570 times across 54 media platforms spanning print, online, radio, and television content across every state in the federation and the FCT.
Speaking further on the findings of the report, Nurdeen added that state actors accounted for an overwhelming 89.4% of all recorded violations, while non-state actors, such as unidentified made up 10.6%, where in the Nigeria Police Force was responsible for 54.0%, marking a concerning institutionalisation of violations by agencies mandated to protect citizens.
Furthermore, Mariam stated that out of the 245 documented violations, 59.2% (145 cases) involved non-violent measures such as arbitrary arrests, detentions, bans, and regulatory sanctions, relying on legally backed processes that are harder to combat. She highlighted that compared to previous years where journalists bore the primary brunt of civic space infractions, repression expanded beyond newsrooms, with citizens affected in 133 incidents (54.3%) of all documented violations.
During the broadcast, Nurudeen highlighted that the Civic Space Guard programme extends beyond annual monitoring reports, and includes holistic safety workshops covering physical, psychosocial, digital, and legal safety training for journalists, as well as mental and psychosocial resilience support. In conclusion, Mariam emphasised that safeguarding democracy requires a multi-sectoral collaboration, therefore citizens, media houses, civil society organisations, policymakers, and security agencies are urged to engage with the report’s findings and implement its recommendations.
Download the 2025 Journalism and Civic Space Status Report, titled Silenced Voices, Shrinking Space: Civic Freedoms Under Pressure.
