Modeling safety challenges journalists faced in reporting anti-police brutality protests (ENDSARS protests) in Nigeria Felix Olajide Talabi Department of Mass Communication, Redeemer’s University Peter N. Nwokolo Department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria David Oloyede Department of Mass Communication, Adeleke University Aiyesimoju Ayodeji Boluwatife Department of Mass Communication, Joseph Ayo Babalola University Victor Oluwole Adefemi Department of Linguistics and Communication, Osun State University Gever Verlumun Celestine Department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria Abstract Limited studies exist on the safety challenges that journalists face in reporting conflict related issues within their localities. This study extends literature in this direction by providing a model that explains the safety chal- lenges that journalists faced in reporting the 2020 END SARS protests in Nigeria. The study is a survey of 470 journalists with questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. Results were analysed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). It was found that legal limitations, lack of training on safety and absence of safety motivational measures constitute the safety challenges that journalists faced in reporting the ENDS SARS pro- tests. This information could be beneficial for policy formulation and advocacy within the context of safety of journalists. Keywords challenges, END SARS, journalists, protest, coverage safety Submitted: 4 May, 2021; Accepted: 5 August, 2021. Introduction Human rights explains those rights which everybody must enjoy unhindered. A human being is entitled to certain rights irrespective of his or her gender, income level, location, level of education, race, ethni- city, political affiliation, language (United Nations, 2013). The Universal Declaration of Human Right (United Nations, 1949) in making a case for the importance of human rights notes thus: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brother- hood.” The implication here is that people of different demographical and psychographic variables are entitled to the same rights. People have the rights to protest and journalists who report such protests also Corresponding author: Gever Verlumun Celestine, PhD, Department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. Email: Encyclopeadia100@gmail.com Original Manuscript Information Development 1–13 © The Author(s) 2021 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/02666669211054367 journals.sagepub.com/home/idv