Civic Pulse Nigeria
Quarterly civic space report
Q4 2023
October to December 2023
Complete quarter. Generated 19 Sept 2026.
- Published records
- 3
- Change on Q3 2023
- +2
- States named
- 3
- Reporting organisations
- 3
3 civic space records were published for October to December 2023, against 1 in July to September 2023. Arrests and Detention was the most frequently recorded category.
Records by category
- Arrests & Detention2
- Harassment1
- Citizen Engagement0
- Government Discourse0
- Resource Access0
- Legal & Regulatory0
Where records were located
- Bauchi1
- Imo1
- Lagos1
Who reported these incidents
- Rights monitors
- 1
- News outlets
- 2
- Official and court records
- 0
- Al Jazeera1
- Amnesty International1
- Channels Television1
The records
- 30 Nov 2023·Bauchi·CPN-0074
Nigerian woman jailed for blasphemy for 18 months over WhatsApp message
Rhoda Jatau was arrested in Bauchi State on 20 May 2022 over a WhatsApp video condemning the killing of student Deborah Samuel, and charged with inciting public disturbance, contempt of a religious creed and cyberstalking under the Cybercrimes Act. She was repeatedly denied bail and held for about 18 months, at times without access to her family and lawyers.
- 1 Nov 2023·Imo·CPN-0075
NLC President Ajaero brutalised by police, hospitalised
Nigeria Labour Congress President Joe Ajaero was arrested by police in Owerri on 1 November 2023 while organising a rally over unpaid wages to Imo State workers. The NLC said he was beaten and blindfolded after his arrest and needed hospital scans; police said he was taken into custody for his own protection. The National Security Adviser condemned the assault.
- 20 Oct 2023·Lagos·CPN-0076
Nigeria: three years after #EndSARS, at least 15 protesters languish in Lagos jail
Three years after the #EndSARS protests, at least 15 people arrested in 2020 remained detained in Lagos correctional centres, most without trial, on charges including theft, arson, unlawful possession of firearms and murder. Some said they had been tortured in police custody. Amnesty International also documented at least six unlawful killings by law enforcement officers in the preceding year.
How this report was compiled
Every record in this report is compiled by hand from reports published by named rights monitors, news outlets and official bodies, and links to the source it draws on. Each record is dated to the incident where its source gives that date, and otherwise to the date the source was published. The figures show what has been recorded, not the full extent of what has happened: incidents that were never reported do not appear, and a state with few records is not necessarily a state where little took place.