Across West Africa, journalists, media outlets, and activists continue to face repression, with governments and powerful actors using arrests, intimidation, and censorship to stifle dissent. The region’s civic space is shrinking, and freedom of expression (FOE) remains under threat, exacerbated by a climate of impunity that emboldens perpetrators. With support from the 11th Hour Project of The Schmidt Family Foundation, MFWA continues to monitor and document these violations to advocate for a free and open civic space in the region.
The monitoring of the region in August 2024 revealed numerous violations, including arrests, detentions, physical attacks, abductions, harassment, and intimidation of journalists, activists, and other critical voices. The violations against freedom of expression and press freedom in August are deeply concerning. The violent dispersal of peaceful protesters and the overt intimidation of journalists signal a troubling escalation in the ongoing crackdown on free speech and the press in Nigeria. The attacks recorded in Nigeria, in addition to those recorded in Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Guinea Bissau, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Senegal show the level of intolerance against expression, including expression through protests, and how journalists performing their duties are abused especially by security agents who are expected to protect them and ensure that their rights are respected.
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