Every quarter, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) under its Freedom of Expression and Digital Rights Programme monitors, documents and reports on threats and attacks against the right to freedom of expression, including press freedom, activism and protests, across the 16 countries of West Africa.
This forms part of the MFWA’s broader effort to promote and defend media freedom, civic expression and civil liberties in the region to help create an enabling environment for the media and other voices to participate in governance processes.
While nearly all 16 countries in West Africa have ratified international and regional instruments guaranteeing freedom of expression, the right remains poorly respected in practice. MFWA’s monitoring reports serve as evidence-based tools for advocacy and redress, documenting violations to inform national and regional interventions.
This report covers the freedom of expression situation in West Africa for the first quarter of 2026 (January to March). It documents 32 violations across eight categories, recorded in 12 of the region’s 16 countries. Arrest and detention was the most frequent violation, accounting for 13 of the 32 cases, followed by physical attacks and the suspension or dissolution of media outlets and political parties, each accounting for 5 cases. Denial of assembly accounted for 3 cases, while seizure or destruction of property and intimidation each accounted for 2.
Security agents were the leading perpetrators, responsible for 16 of the 32 violations, half the total, followed by state authorities (5) and media regulators (3). The most serious incident recorded was the death of a volunteer with the Defence of the Homeland in Burkina Faso, who died in Ouagadougou shortly after being violently arrested by security forces in an open market. He had published a video denouncing alleged injustices and accusing a government minister.
Despite the violations recorded, five remedial actions were registered during the quarter, mostly in the form of release from detention, with additional progress recorded towards redress for violations documented in previous quarters.
The report concludes with recommendations to governments, media regulators, security agencies, ECOWAS and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, calling on these stakeholders to ensure accountability for violations, adopt measures to prevent recurrence, and protect the right to freedom of expression across the region.
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