Nigeria recorded 245 incidents of civic space violations in 2025, with state actors involved in 219 of the cases, a new report by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) has found.
The report, titled ‘Silenced Voices, Shrinking Space: Civic Freedoms Under Pressure,’ indicated that the incidents were documented through systematic monitoring of reports published by 54 media organisations between January and December 2025.
The incidents were referenced in 570 media reports, according to the fourth edition of WSCIJ’s longitudinal documentation of Nigeria’s civic space.
“Data was collected through continuous monitoring of reports on civic space violations across physical and digital spaces. Every incident was verified through cross-checking with multiple credible sources before inclusion in the dataset. Where additional context was required, Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) were conducted.
“To avoid duplication, incidents reported by multiple media organisations were counted as a single verified incident. Overall, the report analysed 245 verified incidents referenced in reports published by 54 media organisations.
