#HumAngleAt5: The Evolution of Conflict Reporting and HumAngle’s Innovative Approach

In 2009, when Mohammed Yusuf first began the process of what would later culminate in a terror group declaring war on the Nigerian state, there was very little known about insurgencies in the country and the Lake Chad region. Nigeria’s last experience with war was several decades before, in 1967, when the southeastern region tried to break away into a different, independent country. And so, when Boko Haram and later ISWAP began to evolve into a violent terror group in 2014/2015, there were hardly any models to use in ethically reporting what was unfolding. It was not anything like Nigeria had ever seen. Consequently, as with many conflicts around the world, there was not a very accurate representation of what was going on in the media. There were also no purely conflict and humanitarian reporting platforms.

When HumAngle Media was established in March 2020 by Ahmad Salkida, an experienced journalist and deeply knowledgeable expert on insurgent matters who had also witnessed the birth and growth of Boko Haram in his hometown, and Obiora Chukwumba, the publication was filling a very wide gap.

Over the last five years, HumAngle has uncovered unimaginable horrors wrought by the insurgency and counter-insurgency operations alike. The conflict has displaced over 2 million people and killed at least 350,000. There have been other kinds of conflict in other regions, all of which we have consistently covered over the years. 

“Your Newspaper’s dedication to truth and excellence has made it an indispensable part of my daily routine,” Safiyanu Ibrahim, one reader, wrote to us last year.

Through data journalism, investigative reporting, multimedia storytelling, and now virtual reality, we have employed every storytelling method we can lay our hands on in the quest to amplify the impact of war, humanitarian disasters, and development issues across Africa. The diversity of the tools we use for storytelling reflects our commitment to the media’s core mandate: to fulfil the public’s right to know.

The aim has always been to hold up the human cost of these conflicts, the devastation, the systemic gaps that make them possible, and insist that people not look away. Our primary tool of choice is powerful storytelling, in whatever way it can be imagined and therefore created.

We have uncovered sex trafficking rings in Nairobi, followed and reported conflict trends in Cameroon, and highlighted the impact of the activities of rebel groups there, the war in Sudan, and the volatile areas in the Central African Republic, DR Congo, and several other African countries.

“Your news reports reveal amazing infrastructure information that is vital to those of us living outside Nigeria. Your reports are in-depth, thought-provoking, and very accurate analyses for us to discern. This vital news service you are providing is greatly and immensely appreciated,” Sunyani Shabaka, another reader, told us.

Multimedia reporting

We have used audio and video podcasts, documentaries, bite-sized newsreels, and even animations through multimedia.

In 2023, under our Northeast Accountability Project, with support from the MacArthur Foundation, we produced an animated short film titled The Displaced, through which we followed the story of Mairo and her family, who, before the war, were a peaceful, happy family. We see how all that changes when a terror attack is launched on the village, killing Mairo’s father, her mother being raped, her brother being abducted, and she and her mother eventually being displaced to the state capital. We see Mairo’s brother, Musa, being forced to become a combatant for the same group that killed his father and displaced his family. We explore how the Knifar Women came to be. We also looked at the impact of the movement when Musa reunites with his family. He never remains the same, but neither does anyone who goes through war, or the over two million people displaced by Boko Haram in Nigeria’s North East.

Through our Vestiges of Violence podcast, which now has aired over 110 episodes, we talk about survivors. We chronicle the stories, showing their resilience and the impact of violence on their everyday lives. The podcast has a video and audio component, with the video versions subtitled, allowing it to cater to various audiences and their preference in consuming news. 

Through our The Crisis Room podcast, which aired tens of episodes, we looked at crisis trends across Africa and asked the tough questions around them. 

Additionally, our limited series Humanitarian Voices podcast explores humanitarian crises across Africa and the organisations doing the tough work of responding to them and helping victims. We interviewed actors such as staff from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Investigative reporting and data journalism 

Our investigative reporting and data journalism have tried to push the bounds of what journalism can look like, with empathy, innovation, and truth-telling being the primary guides. We have used online tools, OSINT supported by HUMINT, AI, and data research and analysis methodologies to enhance our investigative processes and create stories whose language is not only powerful but well-researched. 

In our investigation into Nigeria’s missing persons problem in Borno State, where we linked it with mass graves and counterinsurgency operations, we used OSINT to map out mass graves. We supported it with physical inspections, interviews, and medical records. Following the investigations, many impacts were recorded, including inmates at military detention facilities now being able to phone their relatives to let them know they are alive. Prosecution has also resumed for inmates who have been held for many years without trial, particularly in the Kainji military detention facility in North-central Nigeria. 

HumAngle has also extensively covered the violent activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Nigeria’s southeastern region, and its history, how the group has contributed to a significant economic downturn in the region, the impact of the violent sit-at-home order, and even how security agents have been victims of this violence. 

We also covered other forms of human rights violations, including femicide cases, sexual and gender-based violence, and human trafficking abuses, using language and storytelling skills that readers have described as compelling.

“…I love the writer’s choice of words and the compelling storytelling techniques used, especially the strong opening hook employed,” Usman Bashir Abubakar told us about one story.

Adapting to technological advancements 

The use and relevance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in media and editorial processes cannot be overlooked. When we first started to venture into using AI for our work, one of the first things we did was to come up with an AI policy that would guide our ethical and transparent use of the tool. So far, we have incorporated AI into our multimedia processes, using it to clone one of our presenters’ voices to enable a text-to-speech option on the website, create motion graphics, and enhance our animations. 

We have also begun to use Virtual Reality for storytelling. The purpose of this is to enable people to visit Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps from the safety of their homes and offices, allowing them to interact with those realities and moving them to act in impactful ways for victims and the development space.

Risks and challenges 

Conflict reporting in Africa means navigating war zones and crisis hotspots where impunity is the norm, and the institutions that ought to uphold human rights are weak or nonexistent. Both members of these affected communities and the journalists who highlight their stories are vulnerable in these locations. 

Those who instigate and commit war crimes are rarely held accountable, leaving journalists like us in vulnerable positions, often relying more on ‘luck’ or ‘fate’ than on legal safeguards. Shrinking funding also makes sustainability difficult and profitability almost unattainable, affecting compensation packages, insurance, and the overall operations of many independent newsrooms, while the mental toll remains significant.

Nevertheless, HumAngle journalists stay dedicated despite the dangers because revealing the truth in these conflict areas is essential and valuable.