# BBC Africa Eye

BBC Africa Eye is an investigative branch of the BBC World Service. It has a network of local and investigative journalists and researchers working across Africa and produces a bi-weekly TV and online investigations series broadcast in English, Hausa, Swahili and French. The series focuses on topics that are of interest and concern to young and underserved audience and aims to strengthen and encourage investigative journalism across Africa.
BBC Africa Eye has produced over 100 investigative journalism documentaries in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Cameroon, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and South Africa which have won dozens of awards. Productions range from ten minutes to nearly an hour, and include in-depth undercover investigations as well as open-source journalistic investigations. BBC Africa Eye's coverage has been credited with restoring Nigerian audience's faith in Western media. However, researchers have questioned how far the documentaries constitute a departure from typical Western media coverage of Africa.

## History

Africa Eye was established April 2018 as part of the largest expansion of the BBC World Service since the 1940s. Nisha Kapur, Commissioning Editor for TV said: "Africa Eye will promote the culture of investigative journalism across Africa and strengthen the skills of African investigative journalists. All of the programmes will be based on in-depth reporting that holds power to account. They will tackle topics that are of intense interest and concern to audiences in Africa. These reports will be produced in a fresh and contemporary style that resonates with young audiences."
The series' first documentary was a co-production between Africa Eye and BBC Pidgin, titled Sweet Sweet Codeine. The documentary followed Nigerian journalists Ruona Meyer and Adejuwon Soyinka's undercover investigation, which revealed widespread abuse of a prescription cough medicine laced with an opioid drug, codeine. Less than 24 hours after the documentary was released, the Nigerian government banned the import and manufacture of codeine-based syrup. The film was nominated for an International Emmy and won the One World Media TV Documentary Award 2019.

### Notable open-source coverage

Analysis of footage from June 2018 exposed Cameroon's Rapid Intervention Battalion soldiers burning civilian houses down in the Southwest Region, a region where journalists have been systematically denied access in an effort to prevent coverage of the Anglophone Crisis.
BBC Africa Eye used more than 300 videos shot on protestors' phone at the Khartoum massacre on 3 June 2019 in Sudan to report on the killing of over 100 people. The documentary, Sudan's Livestream Massacre, exposed Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who previously ran the notorious government-backed Janjaweed militias, as ordering the massacre.
During the Libyan civil war, the BBC Africa Eye and BBC Arabic Documentaries revealed that a drone operated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) killed 26 young cadets at a military academy in Tripoli, on 4 January. Most of the cadets were teenagers and none of them were armed. The Chinese-made drone Wing Loong II fired Blue Arrow 7 missile, which was operated from UAE-run Al-Khadim Libyan air base. In February, these drones stationed in Libya were moved to an air base near Siwa in the western Egyptian desert. Subsequently, The Guardian probed and discovered the blatant violation of UN arms embargo by the UAE and Turkey on 7 October 2020.
In April, 2021, BBC Africa Eye, in collaboration with Bellingcat and Newsy confirmed the authenticity of footage of the Mahbere Dego massacres in Tigray, evidence in the war crimes in the Tigray War.

### Reception
#### Sweet Sweet Codeine

Sweet Sweet Codeine (premiered April 30, 2018) was BBC Africa Eye's first documentary. It revealed widespread abuse of a prescription cough medicine laced with an opioid drug, codeine. The Nigerial government had previously estimated more than three million bottles of codeine syrup were being consumed every day in just two states. These syrups can cause organ failure if overused. The Nigerian government banned the import and manufacture of codeine-based syrup within 24-hours of the documentary's premier. Later, the Nigerian federal government recalled more than 2.4 million bottles of codeine cough syrup from the market and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control raided four pharmaceutical companies, dozens of dealers were arrested, and the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency allocated resources to prevent smuggling.
Following the release of the documentary, the Pharmacy Council of Ghana launched an investigation into the abuse of codeine and another painkiller, Tramadol, and in June 2018, as part of the country's National Medicines Policy review, Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang-Manu banned all production and importation of codeine syrup.
A 2021 UN report on pharmaceutical opioids trafficking in West Africa found the bans which followed the airing of Sweet Sweet Codeine curbed both the demand and availability of codeine-based medications. However, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes noted that the bans sometimes lacked administrative support, accompanying enforcement measures and were weakened by ineffective border controls. Additionally, while the significant increase of syrup prices detered many users, it also made smuggling of codeine medications more lucrative.
Sweet Sweet Codeine was the first time a Nigerian film and a BBC World Service production was nominated for an Emmy.

#### Other productions

Ghanaian investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas went undercover his investigative film Number 12, a version of which premiered in June, 2018 under the title Betraying The Game as part BBC Africa Eye, who provided technical support for the investigation and secured the right to show it to a global audience. Ghanaian President of the Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi, was forced to resign following the documentary.
Rehab Nightmare (premiered July 29, 2018) documented Islamic rehab centres in Nairobi, Kenya where patients are routinely tortured, abused and beaten. One of the institutions featured in the documentary, the Darushifa Rehabilitation Centre in Nairobi's Eastleigh, was closed within days of the documentary's premiere. Kenyan authorities shut down two other illegal centres and arrested their staff following the release of the documentary. In 2022, the Kenyan Directorate of Criminal Investigations said it had partnered with the United States embassy in Nairobi, Immigration Services and the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution to contain illegal operations of rehabilitation centres.
In partnership with Amnesty International, Bellingcat and independent analysts on Twitter, Anatomy of a Killing (premiered September 23, 2018) was an open source investigation which exposed the people behind the execution of four civilians (two women and two children) from a viral video. The perpetrators were part of the Cameroonian army, and the three of the individuals who pulled the triggers were ultimately identified. Seven Cameroonian soldiers were tried, five convicted and four jailed for ten years for the murder of the four civilians. The production won a Peabody Award.
In Sex for Grades (premiered October 8, 2019) Nigerian investigative journalist Kiki Mordi exposed lecturers sexually harassing students in University of Lagos and University of Ghana. Dr. Samuel Oladipo and Dr. Boniface Igbeneghu of University of Lagos, Dr. Ransford Gyampo and Dr. Paul Kwame Butakor of University of Ghana were the lecturers implicated in a viral video that came with the exposé. After the exposé, Gyampo threatened to sue the BBC. Due to the documentary, University of Lagos suspended Igbeneghu and Foursquare Gospel Church asked him to step down from the pulpit. Oladipo was also suspended following the release of the documentary. A "Cold Room" caught in the video where lecturers sexually harass students was shut down by the University of Lagos. Immediately after the release of the documentary, the Nigerian senate re-introduced the anti-sexual harassment bill and was read on the floor of the senate. On 9 July 2020, the Nigerian Senate passed the anti-sexual harassment bill, while proposing up to 14 years jail term for offenders. Nigerian universities have increasingly instituted sexual harassment policies, however, the effectiveness of these policies have been questioned by scholars who note the lack of deep engagement by universities with questions of gender inequality. The documentary was nominated for an international Emmy.
The Baby Stealers (premiered November 15, 2020) revealed government and private hospitals were complicit in the theft and trafficking of babies, taken from their mothers without consent. The investigation also revealed alleged corruption at Mama Lucy Kibaki, a public hospital in Nairobi. In the wake of the BBC Africa Eye story, police chief Hillary Mutyambai ordered an investigation into hospitals, as well as children's homes in the Kenyan capital. Kenyan authorities arrested people allegedly running a child-trafficking syndicate. At least two of the people involved in trafficking infants have been convicted as of 2023. The Baby Stealers was the first time a Kenyan production was nominated for an international Emmy.

## Notable productions

| Release date | Title | Director | Reporter(s) | Synopsis | Run time |
| Apr 30, 2018 | Sweet Sweet Codeine: Nigeria's Cough Syrup Crisis | Charlie Northcott | Ruona Meyer; Adejuwon Soyinka | In Nigeria, thousands of young people are addicted to codeine cough syrup – a medicine that's become a street drug. The Nigerian senate estimates that 3 million bottles of codeine syrup are drunk every day in just two states – Kano and Jigawa. | 52:54 |
| Jun 19, 2018 | My Stolen Childhood: Understanding West Africa's Trokosi System | Paul Myles; Joe Jewell | Brigitte Sossou Perenyi | Thousands of women across West Africa have been enslaved by a centuries old practice called "trokosi". Girls are forced to live and work with priests in religious shrines, for the rest of their lives, to "pay" for the sins of family members. Although the practice has officially been banned in Ghana, it's still happening there and in other parts of West Africa. | 25:41 |
| Jul 15, 2018 | My Neighbour The Rapist | Steve Allen | Golden Mtika | Diepsloot is one of the poorest communities in South Africa. But poverty is not the biggest problem here. Diepsloot is the most dangerous part of South Africa - especially if you are a woman. | 42:58 |
| Jun 25, 2018 | Cameroon Burning: The Unseen War | | | Hundreds of shocking mobile phone videos from Cameroon have surfaced in the past six months. They are coming from the English speaking part of the country, where rebels are fighting to form an independent state called "Ambazonia". | 9:43 |
| Jul 29, 2018 | Rehab Nightmare: Drugs, Chains And Canes | Seamus Mirodan | Jamal Osman | Islamic rehab centres offer treatment to people suffering from addiction or mental health problems. But Somali reporter Jamal Osman goes undercover in the Somali neighbourhood of Nairobi, Kenya, to expose that, behind the closed doors of one rehab clinic, patients are routinely abused, beaten, and forced to drink a toxic liquid called harmala. | 25:55 |
| Aug 13, 2018 | Human Harvest | Darius Bazargan | Anas Aremeyaw Anas | On a riverbank in rural Malawi, police find a headless corpse – one of dozens of victims apparently killed for body parts used in ritual magic. Legendary Ghanaian journalist Anas Arameyaw Anas and local reporter Henry Mhango set out to investigate the deaths, and to find out who profits from these brutal killings. But at secret meeting in a remote spot, the investigation goes terrifyingly wrong. | 25:21 |
| Sep 9, 2018 | Hunting Down Gangsters with Kenya's Ahmed Rashid | | Jamal Osman | In 2017, mobile footage of a plain-clothed policeman gunning down two apparently unarmed men went viral in Kenya. But who is this cop and what prompted the shooting? BBC Africa Eye joins controversial officer Ahmed Rashid as he seeks to rid the streets of gangsters and criminals. For the first time cameras are allowed to follow his team in action in the Somali neighbourhood of Eastleigh, Nairobi. We hear from those who praise his unit and those who condemn them for what they say are a spate of extra-judicial killings. | 27:49 |
| Sep 23, 2018 | Anatomy of a Killing | | | In July 2018, a horrifying video began to circulate on social media. It shows two women and two young children being led away at gunpoint by a group of Cameroonian soldiers. The captives are blindfolded, forced to the ground, and shot 22 times. The government of Cameroon initially dismissed the video as "fake news." But through forensic analysis of the footage, those responsible for the massacre are exposed. | 11:26 |
| Dec 3, 2018 | Kamwe Kamwe: Inside Burundi's Killing Machine | Charlotte Attwood; Maud Jullien | | Former Burundian intelligence agents say that the country's security services are running secret torture and detention sites to silence dissent. Using cutting edge reconstruction techniques BBC Africa Eye examines one house in particular, which was filmed in a video posted on social media in 2016. A red liquid, which looked like blood, was seen pouring from its gutter. We ask if Burundi's repression of opponents has now gone underground? The government has always denied any human rights violations, and declined to comment for this report. | 22:59 |
| Feb 6, 2019 | Betraying The Game: Anas Aremeyaw Anas Investigates Football In Africa | Clive Patterson | Anas Aremeyaw Anas | Almost one hundred football officials across West Africa and Kenya have been caught on camera accepting cash in a sting operation. It's part of a two-year long undercover investigation, which includes a World Cup-bound assistant referee from Kenya accepted six hundred dollars from a man posing as an official of a Ghanaian premiership team. | 51:05 |
| May 7, 2019 | Meet the Night Runners | Seamus Mirodan | Tom Odula | The people of rural Kenya have spoken of the night runners for generations. They're said to be villagers possessed by a demonic spirit which compels them to scare and terrorise their neighbours at night. But no one really knows who the night runners are or what motivates them. For BBC Africa Eye, reporter Tom Odula investigates the enigma of the night runners, shining fresh light on the reality behind the myths, and revealing exclusive footage of night runners in action. Please be aware that there are disturbing images in this piece. | 50:47 |
| May 19, 2019 | The Hidden Lives Of 'Housegirls' | Elizabeth C. Jones | Nancy Kacungira | In Uganda, young women are leaving their homes to try and find jobs as domestic workers, but for some their new lives can lead to mistreatment and abuse. A charity in Kenya is calling for the introduction of laws to protect domestic workers, who are commonly referred to as 'housegirls', to ensure their safety. For BBC Africa Eye, reporter Nancy Kacungira has been investigating why young women living near Uganda's border are leaving their villages to find work in Kenya. | 27:50 |
| Jun 17, 2019 | Stealing from the Sick | Alexander Houghton | Solomon Serwanjja | Everyone in Uganda is entitled to free medicine to combat killer diseases like malaria. Despite Government efforts to improve access to essential medicines, a significant number of people have to use private facilities because of frequent stockouts. BBC Africa Eye headed undercover to expose one of the reasons why there is shortage of life saving drugs – medicine theft by medical professionals. | 52:34 |
| Jul 1, 2019 | Inside Nigeria's Kidnap Crisis | | Kunle Falayi | Nigeria is in the grip of a kidnapping epidemic. Thousands of Nigerians have fallen victim, and millions of dollars in ransoms have been paid. But the Intelligence Response Team, led by Abba Kyari - nicknamed "Nigeria's Super Cop" - are taking the fight to the kidnappers. Is the unit the solution to the Nigeria's kidnap crisis? | |
| Jul 12, 2019 | Sudan's Livestream Massacre | | Benjamin Strick | There was a massacre of protesters on the streets of Sudan's capital, Khartoum on 3 June 2019. This is the story of that massacre, told through the phone cameras of those who kept filming, even as they came under live fire. | 18:01 |
| Oct 7, 2019 | Sex For Grades: Undercover Inside Nigerian And Ghanaian Universities | Charlie Northcott | Kiki Mordi | Universities in Nigeria and Ghana have been plagued by stories of sexual harassment by lecturers and professors for decades. Allegations include a wide array of abuses, from blackmailing students for sex in exchange for marks and admission to lewd comments and grooming. After gathering dozens of testimonies, undercover journalists pose as students inside the University of Lagos and the University of Ghana to capture footage of what happens behind the closed doors of some of West Africa's most prestigious universities. | 53:51 |
| Nov 3, 2019 | Silicon Valley's Online Slave Market | Jess Kelly | | An undercover investigation exposes the people in Kuwait breaking local and international laws on modern slavery, including a woman offering a child for sale. At the centre of this powerful investigative film is Fatou, a 16 year old in Kuwait City who has been there for nine months. We follow her rescue and journey back home to Guinea, West Africa and ask: what's being done to control the apps promoted on Google, Apple and Facebook-owned Instagram? | 51:00 |
| Dec 16, 2019 | Imported For My Body: The African Women Trafficked To India For Sex | Nyasha Kadandara | | An illegal network lures women to India from Africa, where they are then forced into sex work to satisfy the demands of the many African men living in Delhi.The women are mostly from Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania and Rwanda. One woman, Grace, who was trafficked from Kenya, agreed to go undercover. | 51:47 |
| Mar 9, 2020 | The Trees That Bleed: How Rosewood is Smuggled From Senegal into Gambia | Charlotte Attwood | Umaru Fofana | The rosewood tree is one of the most trafficked species on earth. When it's cut it bleeds a blood-red sap. Having exhausted stocks elsewhere, Chinese traders have turned to West Africa, especially southern Senegal, where trees are cut down and smuggled into neighbouring Gambia and then all the way onto China. | 45:41 |
| Jun 29, 2020 | Corona Quacks: Exposing Fake Coronavirus Cures in Ghana | Charlie Northcott | Anas Aremeyaw Anas | An underworld of quack doctors and conmen have been exploiting the coronavirus pandemic and making money selling fake coronavirus cures. Investigative reporter Anas Aremeyaw Anas goes undercover in Ghana, exposing a Covid-19 scam said to be worth tens of thousands of dollars. The World Health Organisation estimates 100,000 people die as a consequence of fake clinical and herbal medicines every year in Africa. Posing as the brother of a man infected with the deadly coronavirus, Anas sets out to find so-called cures, to expose the men who sell them, and to test the liquids for potentially dangerous and toxic ingredients. | 27:56 |
| Aug 27, 2020 | Libya's 'Game of Drones' | | Poline Tchoubar | The UAE has denied intervention in Libya's civil war. But the BBC has uncovered new evidence that a laser-guided missile, fired from a UAE drone, killed 26 unarmed cadets in January 2020, that the UAE is still deploying drones and other military aircraft in support of its Libyan allies, and that Egypt is facilitating this intervention. | 18:38 |
| Nov 15, 2020 | The Baby Stealers | Peter Murimi | Njeri Mwangi | A year long investigation has uncovered damning evidence of a thriving underground network in Kenya that snatches babies from their mothers and sells them for a profit. The secretive and highly lucrative trade preys on the country's most vulnerable, stealing children from the streets and even the maternity ward of a major government hospital. Njeri Mwangi reports from Nairobi. | 51:30 |
| Jan 24, 2021 | Kenya's 'Spy Queen': Private Detective, Jane Mugo | Charlie Northcott | Sharon Machira | Kenya has a real version of the spy James Bond, and her name is Jane. Detective Jane Mugo is the country's most famous and controversial private investigator. She says she's solved hundreds of crimes, but some say she writes her own rules. This is the inside story of the woman they call Kenya's 'Spy Queen.' | 27:30 |
| Feb 7, 2021 | Lady P and the Sex Work Sisterhood | Tyson Conteh | Tyson Conteh | Africa Eye investigates an unsolved murder of a sex worker in Sierra Leone and uncovers a world where women who sell sex are often abused, attacked, trafficked, and even killed. In the city of Makeni, a group of sex workers, led by a woman called Lady P, are on a mission to fight for justice and to improve their rights. Although sex work is not illegal in the country, these women are seen as immoral outcasts and receive little support from the government or society. And as Tyson Conteh reports, their survival has been made even more precarious since the coronavirus pandemic. | 51:55 |
| May 16, 2021 | Nigeria's Ordinary President | | Peter Nkanga | Every day, human rights campaigner Ahmed Isah captivates Nigeria, administering his own brand of populist justice on his radio and TV show 'Brekete Family'. The self-styled 'Ordinary President' is celebrated by millions of Nigerians for using his power to deliver justice to the poor and for holding senior politicians and police officials to account before the nation. Reporter Peter Nkanga followed Ahmed and his team over a number of weeks and discovered that, though the 'Ordinary President' has changed many lives for the better, his often controversial methods also raise serious questions. | 26:51 |
| May 30, 2021 | Three Killings in Kampala | | Bertram Hill | In November last year, more than 50 people were shot and killed during a government crackdown on the streets of Uganda's capital, Kampala. Officials defended the use of live fire, saying the police were responding to rioters. But a new investigation by BBC Africa Eye documents a killing spree on Kampala Road, and shows damning evidence that Ugandan security forces, firing from the back of a police truck, shot at least seven unarmed people. | 30:07 |
| Jun 14, 2021 | We Make It Or We Die | | | Every year tens of thousands of Ethiopians begin the perilous 2,000 kilometre trek from their home country to Saudi Arabia, attempting to cross mountains, deserts, the Red Sea and even a war zone. Some of these migrants describe how they face robbery, extortion and starvation in temperatures of around 50 degrees. Many die along the way, while others fall short and end up begging on the streets. | 27:07 |
| Dec 12, 2021 | Black Axe: Nigeria's Mafia Cult | Charlie Northcott | Peter Macjob | The Black Axe are one of the most feared and powerful organised crime groups in the world. The highly secretive mafia – referred to as a "cult" in Nigeria – have been accused of countless murders and are estimated to earn millions of dollars through internet fraud. | 52:10 |
| Jan 23, 2022 | Kenya's Hidden Epidemic | Elijah Kanyi; Dickon Le Marchant | Tom Odula | When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Kenya, cases of gender-based violence exploded. But a combination of fear, stigma and a lack of trust in the police mean the majority of cases are never reported. It has been described as Kenya's 'hidden epidemic'. Africa Eye reporter Tom Odula investigates the deep-seated roots behind the violence, discovers the trauma behind the shocking statistics, and explores the police and government inaction that leaves survivors with little hope of justice. | 26:32 |
| Mar 20, 2022 | Kenya's Killer Roads | Kassim Mohamed | Richard Chacha | Africa Eye exposes dodgy driving licences and dangerous vehicles on Kenya's killer roads. Between 2020 and 2021 Kenyan road deaths rose more than 20 per cent. Last year, more than 4,500 were killed and over 16,000 injured. Journalist Richard Chacha, himself paralysed in a road accident ten years ago, joins Africa Eye to expose rogue driving school employees who, for a fee, fix it for rookie drivers to get behind the wheel without ever having to take a driving test. | 28:00 |
| Jun 12, 2022 | Racism for Sale | Runako Celina; Henry Mhango | Chiara Francavilla | In February 2020, a shocking video began to circulate on Chinese social media. A group of African children are being instructed, by a voice off-camera, to chant phrases in Chinese. The kids repeat the words with smiles and enthusiasm — but they don't understand that what they're being told to say is "I am a black monster and my IQ is low." The clip ignited outrage in China and beyond. Reporters Runako Celina and Henry Mhango on a journey into a Chinese video-making industry that exploits vulnerable children across the continent. | 49:05 |
| Feb 20, 2023 | Sex for Work: The True Cost of Our Tea | Seamus Mirodan | Tom Odula | A joint investigation between BBC Africa Eye and Panorama has uncovered widespread sexual abuse on farms which supply some of the UK's most popular tea brands including PG Tips, Lipton and Sainsbury's Red Label. Women in Kenya say they've been forced into sex by their managers while working on plantations which have been owned for decades by two British companies. | 49:45 |
| Oct 1, 2023 | Predators on the Pitch: Inside Africa's Biggest Football Scandal | Suzanne Vanhooymissen | Khadidiatou Cissé | An investigation claims FIFA failed to take effective action when made aware of the sexual abuse of young footballers in Gabon. In Gabon, it's the dream of most young footballers to play internationally. But in 2022, a long-serving coach for youth national teams, Patrick Assoumou Eyi, admitted to charges of raping, grooming and exploiting young players. He faces up to 30 years in prison. | 28:04 |
| Nov 26, 2023 | Breaking the Silence: Abortion Rights in Kenya | Zoe Flood | Linda Ngari | Across the world, debates are raging about access to safe abortion. Complications from unsafe, backstreet procedures are a leading cause of maternal death in developing countries. In Kenya, where almost two-thirds of pregnancies are unintended, unregulated terminations are estimated to claim the lives of over 2,000 women every year. | 44:37 |