Mali: Prominent Political Commentator Released After a Year in Prison

Political commentator and former legislator Issa Kaou N'Djim has been released from prison in Bamako after serving one year of a two-year sentence for comments deemed insulting to… Read more »

West Africa: Journalist Finally Freed After Seven Months of Detention

Senegalese journalist and commentator Abdou Nguer was released on November 12, 2025, after spending seven months in detention over a series of social media posts deemed offensive… Read more »

West Africa: MFWA Empowers 30 Journalists On the Use of Ghana's RTI Law in Investigative Reporting

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has trained 30 journalists from the Ashanti, Greater Accra, and five northern regions of Ghana on the use of the Right to Information… Read more »

West Africa: Guinea-Bissau - Supreme Court Bars Three Radio Stations From Press Conference On Electoral Decision

On September 25, 2025, Guinea-Bissau's Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) barred three radio stations from covering a press conference at its headquarters. The press conference was… Read more »

West Africa: Blogger Arrested After Criticising Regional Hospital in Facebook Post

Blogger and photographer Alhousseiny Traoré was arrested on Friday, September 12, 2025, around 6 p.m., at his home in Timbuktu, by the police. According to local sources,… Read more »

West Africa: Journalist Released After Four Months of Enforced Disappearance

Journalist and activist El Bachir Thiam, who had been missing for over four months following a kidnapping, has been released and reunited with his family in Bamako. Thiam, who… Read more »

Gambia: Activists, Journalists Arrested While Protesting Auditor General's Removal

On September 15, 2025, police arrested and detained five individuals at the National Audit Office in Kanifing. The victims include activists Omar Saibo Camara, Public Relations… Read more »

Ghana: TikTok User Jailed Seven Months for Threats to President, Officials

On September 13, 2025, the Ghana Police Service announced through its official social media channels the arrest of popular TikToker David Kwodwo Prah Afful, widely known as Kwame… Read more »

Mauritania: Environmental Activist Freed After Two Months of Detention

On Thursday, September 18, 2025, environmental activist and blogger, Ali Ould Bakkar, who had spent two months in detention, was released unconditionally following a decision by… Read more »

Nigeria: Journalist Sues Hospital for Withholding Information On Pelumi Onifade's Death

Ayomide Eweje, a journalist with Nigeria-based BONews, has filed a lawsuit against Ikorodu General Hospital and its Medical Director for allegedly withholding information about the… Read more »

Nigeria: Investigative Journalist Detained By Police After Petition By Exposé Subject

Sodiq Atanda, a Senior Reporter with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), was detained by the Ekiti State Police Command in Nigeria on September 9, 2025. He had… Read more »

Nigeria: Journalist Arrested Over Viral Video of Rundown Hospital

On September 10, 2025, a Nigerian journalist, Hassan Mai-Waya Kangiwa, was arrested and detained in Kebbi State, northwest Nigeria, after releasing a video that went viral, showing… Read more »

Burkina Faso: Journalists Freed After Year-Long Disappearance

Journalists Adama Bayala and Alain Traoré, also known as "Alain Alain," have been released after they went missing under unexplained circumstances. After more than a year of… Read more »

West Africa: Niger - Investigative Journalist Imprisoned Following Complaint By Prime Minister

Investigative journalist Ali Soumana, founder and editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper Le Courrier, was arrested on September 7, 2025, by Niger's judicial police. He was taken… Read more »

Guinea: Journalist Arrested While Reporting On Landslide Disaster

Guinean journalist Mamadou Boullère Diallo was arrested on Sunday, August 24, 2025, while reporting on a deadly landslide in Manéah, about 40 kilometres from the… Read more »

Mauritania: Reporters Detained, Forced to Delete Protest Footage

Two journalists from the independent news outlet Al Akhbar.info were arrested by gendarmes while covering a peaceful protest in Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott, on September 2,… Read more »

West Africa: Activist Arrested After Urging Protests Ahead of Key Election Ruling

Ivorian political activist Ibrahim Zigui was arrested on September 1, 2025, after urging supporters of the opposition PPA-CI party to prepare for protests ahead of the… Read more »

Mauritania: Authorities Shut Down News Website for 'Damaging Diplomatic Relations'

Mauritanian authorities have permanently shut down the Arabic-language news website Anbaa.info, citing alleged attempts to damage relations with Algeria. After being summoned by… Read more »

Senegal: Court Hands Journalist Suspended Sentence, Fine Over Remarks About Prime Minister

On August 20, 2025, journalist Doudou Coulibaly, and Programme Director of Dakar Municipal Radio (RMD), was summoned by the Special Division for the Fight against Cybercrime (DSC)… Read more »

Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone - Journalist Detained Over Cyberbullying Allegations

Shar Maturi, a senior reporter with the Standard Times Newspaper, was briefly detained on August 27, 2025, at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in Freetown over… Read more »

West Africa: Court of Appeals Lifts Sentence Against Activist

Ahmed Ould Samba, a human rights activist was released on August 28, 2025 by the Court of Appeal of West Nouakchott. Ahmed Ould Samba was taken into prison custody on January 22,… Read more »

West Africa: Journalist Detained On Charges of Defamation, Insulting a Foreign Head of State

"I knew this would happen sooner or later," are the words used by journalist Doudou Coulibaly in a Facebook post published on August 19, 2025, when announcing that he had been… Read more »

Senegal: Journalist and Former MP Sentenced to Two Months in Prison

On July 30, 2025, journalist Bachir Fofana and former Member of Parliament Moustapha Diakhate were sentenced to two months in prison, with fifteen days to be served. Read more »

West Africa: Gunmen Abduct Journalist Accused of Making False Claims About President

On August 12, 2025, unidentified armed men abducted Akyemkwaa Nana Kofi Asare, a presenter with Wontumi TV, in Ejisu Krapa in Ghana's Ashanti Region. Read more »

West Africa: Journalist Sentenced to Six Months in Prison

On July 14, the director of Radio Baoulé, Seydou Oumar Traoré, was sentenced to six months in prison and fined one million CFA francs ( $1,785.58 ), for the charge of… Read more »