The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has sounded the alarm over Nigeria’s deteriorating climate for press freedom, revealing that government officials and security operatives are now the leading perpetrators of violence and intimidation against journalists in the country.
In its newly released report titled “When Protectors Become Predators: The State Against Freedom of Expression in Nigeria”, MRA documents a disturbing pattern of harassment, arrests, and physical assaults on media practitioners , many of which were allegedly carried out by institutions meant to protect them.
The 129-page report, published to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, exposes how security, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies have turned their powers against the press. Between January 1 and October 31, 2025, MRA recorded at least 69 separate incidents of violations, ranging from arbitrary arrests and detentions to threats, abductions, and office invasions.
According to the report, government officials were responsible for nearly 74 percent of all recorded attacks on journalists during the period under review. The Nigeria Police Force emerged as the worst offender, accounting for about 45 percent of the total cases, followed by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), the military, and other paramilitary bodies.
MRA’s Deputy Executive Director, Mr. Ayode Longe, described the findings as evidence 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 lamented that this growing hostility “represents a fundamental breakdown of law enforcement accountability and a direct assault on democracy and the rule of law.”
The report further warned that impunity for such attacks has emboldened perpetrators and weakened democratic governance, as few offenders are ever identified or prosecuted. This, it said, has created a “climate of fear and self-censorship” among journalists, undermining citizens’ right to be informed.
MRA stressed that protecting journalists is both a legal and moral duty of the Nigerian government, one recognized under the Constitution, Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
To reverse the trend, the organization urged the Federal Government to establish clear accountability mechanisms for public officials implicated in attacks on journalists, reform security agencies to respect human rights, and retrain officers on the principles of press freedom.
MRA also called for the creation of a national multi-stakeholder protection mechanism for journalists, as well as urgent steps to stop the misuse of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, and other repressive laws against the media.
Additionally, the group appealed to the National Assembly to enact laws that specifically criminalize attacks on journalists, and to the National Judicial Council (NJC) to develop a system for monitoring and preventing the abuse of court processes to harass media practitioners.
MRA concluded that the ongoing assault on journalists by state actors is not only a human rights concern but also a democratic emergency requiring immediate reform and accountability.
The full report, “When Protectors Become Predators: The State Against Freedom of Expression in Nigeria,” is available for download at https://bit.ly/4oKzxoN.
