Every two years, the Global Investigative Journalism Network presents the Global Shining Light Award, a unique prize that honors investigative journalism in a developing or transitioning country, done under threat, duress, or in dire conditions. GIJN brings you a series of four videos featuring the 2017 recipients of the Shining Light Award — the joint winners and the journalists who received citations of excellence. They speak about why they are investigative reporters and why it is worth doing, the risks they take, and how other journalists can support each other.

This video features Emmanuel Mayah, one of two joint winners of the award, an investigative journalist with Nigeria’s Premium Times, honored for his stories “Inside the Massive Extrajudicial Killings in Nigeria’s South-East” and “How the Onitsha Massacre of Pro-Biafra Supporters was Coordinated”.

A two-month long investigation by Mayah uncovered multiple mass graves, lending support to allegations that police and military forces targeted a minority ethnic group for abuse and extrajudicial killings. Following reports that included photo evidence, human rights groups called for an independent probe and the army announced an investigation.