Public Interest Journalism at Risk: Attacks on Journalists Escalate in Nigeria Amidst Autocratic Governance

Media Rights Agenda (MRA) and the International Press Centre (IPC) condemn the escalating attacks on journalists in Nigeria. Recent incidents include the arrest and detention of Mr. Hassan Mai-Waya Kangiwa in Kebbi State on the orders of Governor Nasir Idris, following the circulation of a video exposing the deplorable state of facilities at the Kangiwa General Hospital. Additionally, Sodeeq Atanda, a senior reporter with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), was unlawfully detained by the Ekiti State Police Command on September 9, 2025.

MRA warns that the trend of attacks, intimidation, and harassment of journalists poses a grave threat to media freedom, freedom of expression, and citizens’ right of access to information. The organization calls on regional and international human rights mechanisms to take urgent measures to redress the situation by closely monitoring Nigeria’s compliance with its human rights obligations and holding the government accountable for breaches of those obligations.

Lady E Ejiro Umukoro, Founder and Publisher of LightRay! Media, emphasizes the need for more media literacy for officers in the police and intelligence agencies on sections 22 and 39 of the Nigerian constitution. She also stresses the importance of respecting the recently passed Supreme Court’s judgment on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), calling on civil servants and other public institutions to comply with the media in doing its job in public interest journalism.

Other recent cases of attacks against journalists in Nigeria include:

• The Beating of Olatunji Adebayo: a correspondent with The Punch newspaper, in June 2025.
• The Harassment of Blessing Okonkwo: a freelance broadcast journalist in Anambra State, in July 2025.
• The Detention of Ibrahim Garba: a Daily Trust photojournalist in Kano, in August 2025.

IPC’s Safety and Protection of Journalists (SPJ) hub also condemns the unlawful detention of Sodeeq Atanda and the harassment of Abdulaziz Aliyu, a reporter with Waraka Online TV in Kano.

Mr. John Gbadamosi, MRA’s Programme Officer, said, “These repeated incidents highlight the deteriorating environment for media freedom in Nigeria.”

Mr. Lanre Arogundade, Executive Director of IPC, said, “this action by the Police is clearly an attempt to further stifle press freedom.”

Both organizations call on the Federal Government to order immediate investigations into all reported attacks on journalists and prosecute the perpetrators.