Government officials are responsible for 74 percent of attacks on journalists in Nigeria, with the Nigeria Police Force accounting for nearly half of these violations, according to a new report by Media Rights Agenda (MRA).
The 129-page report, titled “When Protectors Become Predators: The State Against Freedom of Expression in Nigeria,” was released on Monday to mark the 2025 International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.
The MRA survey, conducted between January 1 and October 31, 2025, found that government officials were responsible for nearly three-quarters of all attacks on journalists and violations of freedom of expression. The Nigeria Police Force was identified as the single worst offender, accounting for 45 percent of the total incidents.
Other perpetrators include operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), members of the military and paramilitary agencies, and elected or appointed political office holders at both federal and state levels.
According to the report, at least 69 incidents were recorded during the review period, including arbitrary arrests and detention, physical assaults, threats to life, abductions, invasions of media offices, and other forms of harassment and intimidation of journalists performing their legitimate duties.
MRA’s Deputy Executive Director, Mr. Ayode Longe, said the findings reveal that journalists in Nigeria are increasingly under siege, not just from criminals and insurgents, but “principally from the very state institutions charged with protecting them.”
He said the trend represents a grave contradiction of the government’s constitutional and international obligations to safeguard journalists and guarantee citizens’ right to information, describing it as “a fundamental breakdown of law enforcement accountability and a direct assault on democracy and the rule of law.”
The report noted that widespread impunity for crimes against journalists has eroded public confidence in government institutions and emboldened further violations, as perpetrators are rarely investigated or prosecuted. This, it said, has fostered an atmosphere of fear and self-censorship that undermines democratic governance.
MRA emphasized that ensuring journalists’ safety is a legal and moral duty of the government, enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution, Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The organisation urged the Federal Government to establish mechanisms to ensure accountability for officials involved in attacks on journalists and to reform and retrain security and law enforcement agencies to respect human rights and press freedom.
It also called for the creation of a national multi-stakeholder protection framework for journalists and an end to the misuse of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, and other repressive laws against the media.
Additionally, MRA appealed to the National Assembly to pass legislation specifically criminalizing attacks on journalists and urged the National Judicial Council (NJC) to monitor and prevent the misuse of judicial processes to harass media professionals.
