Nigeria tops West Africa in breaches of civic rights, according to new findings from S4C

Civic freedoms in West Africa are experiencing a rapid decline, with Nigeria recording the highest number of violations in the subregion, according to a new report by Spaces for Change (S4C).

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This disturbing trend is outlined in the report, titled “Civic Space in West Africa: Trends, Threats and Futures”, which covers the period between July 2022 and December 2024.

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During this time, a total of 801 civic space violations were documented across 16 countries, representing a 26 per cent increase from the 639 incidents recorded in the previous six-year period.

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Nigeria accounted for 332 of these cases, which is 41 per cent of the total incidents, followed by other countries such as Guinea with 74 cases, Mali with 70, Senegal with 66, and Burkina Faso with 57.

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Other countries in the region also recorded significant numbers of violations, including Niger with 42 cases, Togo with 40, Sierra Leone with 29, Ghana with 27, and Gambia with 18.

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Côte d’Ivoire recorded 16 cases, Benin 13, Liberia 11, Guinea-Bissau five, Mauritania one, while Cape Verde reported no incidents during the period under review.

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The report highlights a systematic repression of civic space across the region, with state authorities increasingly using tactics such as arrests, prosecutions, violence, and judicial mechanisms to silence dissenting voices.

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A key concern is the growing role of the judiciary in enabling repression, with judicially backed violations surging from nine cases over six years to 70 cases in less than three years, a nearly 700 per cent increase.

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According to the report, “Governments are no longer simply ignoring courts; they are weaponising them, marking a shift from judicial passivity to judicial complicity.

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Other factors contributing to the shrinking civic space include military coups, flawed elections, insecurity, misuse of digital technologies, and a rapidly growing youth population.

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The report warns that the crisis has expanded from individual countries into a regional trend, describing the democratic decline as “something closer to a democratic emergency” by 2025.

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To address the situation, S4C has outlined six strategic priorities, including sustained engagement with judicial actors and investment in digital security tools for activists and journalists.

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Other priorities include the inclusion of civil society organisations in counterterrorism policymaking, building coalitions with trade unions and grassroots movements, strengthening cross-border collaboration, and establishing a regional emergency fund.

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At the report unveiling, S4C Executive Director Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri stressed that freedom of expression remains the most suppressed right, with people who criticise public authorities facing trouble.

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She noted that critical comments on social media often lead to arrest, detention, prosecution, or jail, while rights to association and peaceful assembly are also under growing restrictions.

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Programme Director at Fund for Global Human Rights, James Savage, noted that the findings mirror a broader global trend of shrinking civic space, similar to patterns in Latin America, Europe, and Asia.

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However, he commended the rise of youth-led civic engagement across West Africa, saying it demonstrates citizens’ determination to demand accountability and uphold democratic rights despite increasing repression.