TheCable

This week, TheCable Newspaper, established to “deliver knowledge-driven journalism in the pursuit of Nigeria’s progress”, marks its 10th anniversary in the media ecosystem. 

As we celebrate this milestone, we put together a non-exhaustive list of some of our biggest stories that exposed corruption, informed policy reforms and projected the interests of voiceless and oppressed Nigerians — a testament to a lived vision. 

From undercovers to fact-checks, analysis to investigations, we present to you 30 of some of our most impactful stories — in no particular order.

NIGERIA’S BOOMING PETROL SMUGGLING TRADE

In 2022, UNDERCOVER: Bribes, cartel and conspiracy… inside Nigeria’s booming petrol smuggling trade, exposed the booming business of petrol smuggling across Nigerian borders, aided by security agencies, cartels, and non-state actors. 

The report shed light on how Nigeria’s porous land borders cost the country billions, prompting the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to announce efforts to tackle the menace and weed out “bad eggs” within the agency.

A typical rickety vehicle used to transport petrol products in jerrycans from Nigeria to Niger Republic

THE WATER MANIFESTO

A man seeking help from River Osun goddess

TheCable’s five-part documentary, ‘The Water Manifesto’, highlighted the dangers associated with the widespread paucity of clean water and how corruption and politics contribute to the issue. The documentary was filmed in Osun, Enugu, Rivers, Lagos and Abuja.

FACT-CHECKING NIGERIA’S ENVIRONMENT MINISTER

In 2019, Mohammed Mahmood, Nigeria’s then minister of environment, said seven federal universities are running strictly on solar energy. 

The solar installation at AE-FUNAI

TheCable visited the nine universities under the Energising Education Programme (EEP) to verify Mahmood’s claim and found out that two solar power plants have been inaugurated at two institutions out of the nine universities under the EEP phase one project, but only one — at AE-FUNAI — is functioning, and the university is solely dependent on renewable energy.

THE LAGOS SLAVE FACTORIES

The Lagos slave factories exposé I and II brought succour to Matthew Eworo, a 29-year-old factory worker, 16 months after his hand was stuck in the base of an active mixer while on a night shift at the Monaplex plastic factory on August 31, 2023.

Workers at a hair factory in Lagos

The two-part investigative report exposed the poor working conditions of factory workers in Lagos state and how these companies failed to provide protective and safety measures for their workers. Monaplex has since adopted new safety measures to protect its workers.

FIGHTING DISINFORMATION ONLINE

As part of our quota to fight fake news and misinformation, INSIGHT: How fake Anonymous Facebook accounts spread disinformation and incite violence, exposed the activities of an “anonymous” Facebook account sharing false information about bribery involving President Bola Tinubu.

THE FORGOTTEN SOLDIERS

While Nigerians expect that the men who spend hours sweltering under the sun on road-check duties and putting their lives on the line, and sometimes paying the ultimate price to protect the nation, would be well catered for and compensated, FORGOTTEN SOLDIERS I, II III, IV, V, a five-part investigative series, chronicled how soldiers wounded at the battlefield are ignored and forgotten by the army, government, and people they defended.

Wounded soldiers on hospital beds

After the expose, Johnson Nwibani, a soldier who lost one of his legs after being shot by Boko Haram in 2012 got a prosthesis, and at least six other soldiers had their treatment expedited by the army.

A STORY THAT EXPOSED NIGERIA’S TROUBLING CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

In 2019, Fisayo Soyombo spent two weeks in detention — five days in a police cell and eight as an inmate in Ikoyi prison — to track corruption in Nigeria’s criminal justice system. His findings are captured in UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION (I): Bribery, bail for sale… Lagos police station where innocent civilians are held and criminals are recycled and UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION (II): Drug abuse, sodomy, bribery, pimping… The cash-and-carry operations of Ikoyi Prisons.

A warder collecting a bribe

NEGLIGENCE AT QUEEN’S COLLEGE

Three students of Queen’s College, Yaba, Lagos state, died under controversial circumstances in 2017. TheCable’s INVESTIGATION: How Queen’s College students died tragically from years of corruption and negligence showed the negligence by the school management to respond to complaints and years of decadence and rot of facilities in the college.

It also exposed how the failure of officials of the federal ministry of education in Abuja to effectively and efficiently perform their regulatory and oversight functions over unity schools in the country resulted in the tragic deaths of the three girls.

The ministry of education subsequently set up a panel to probe sexual harassment and cholera outbreaks at the school after TheCable launched the CRY FOR JUSTICE campaign following the tragic incident.

THE N-POWER FRAUD

To close the huge employment gap in the country and empower the youths, the federal government introduced the N-Power scheme — a component of the National Social Investment Programmes (N-SIP) dubbed as the largest post-tertiary employment programme in Africa. Thousands of youths were employed as volunteers with a monthly pay of N30,000.

TheCable’s UNDERCOVER: Bribery, massive fraud sabotaging N-POWER scheme, however, exposed the fraudulent activities going on in the scheme. The report revealed how some beneficiaries bribe officials to continue receiving payment after absconding from their duty post. 

Following the report, the federal government clamped down on the fraudulent beneficiaries, prosecuted some and sacked over 2,500 from the scheme.

VIDEO: THE ABUJA VILLAGE WITHOUT ELECTRICITY

A funeral ceremony for one of the villagers

It was a tale of disease and death for the residents of Gosa Kpanyi Kpanyi village in Abuja. The indigenes had to go to the village across the expressway to charge their phones, cut their hair, and watch TV, among other things; some were knocked down by vehicles speeding through the expressway. 

TheCable documented their experience in VIDEO: The Abuja village where lack of electricity is killing people.

Hours after the report went public, the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) said it had directed its project team to look into the situation of the village located under the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).

HOW REGULATORY FAILURE FUELLED WATERWAY DISASTERS

An inquiry into the recurrent reports of boat accidents across Nigeria took TheCable investigative team to Kogi, Sokoto, Lagos, Rivers, Delta and Anambra states. The team documented how weak regulatory presence is jeopardising the lives of Nigerians in a two-part series here and here.

Residents are ferried through the rivers in rickety boats without life jackets

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the maritime safety authorities to investigate the recurring incidents.

THE BORNO ACCIDENTAL BOMBING

Tears from Rann I and II captured how Fanne Abakar lost her husband and three children to the Nigerian air force misfiring of January 17, 2017, in Rann, Borno state — after she had lost her parents and extended family members to the Boko Haram insurgency.

The investigation also shed light on how survivors of the accidental bombing were neglected and slowly dying in the hospitals.

THE MAGU SERIES

In a series of exclusive stories, TheCable highlighted the many “sins” of Ibrahim Magu, erstwhile chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which led to his suspension as head of the anti-graft agency and the developments that followed.

You can read the series below:

EXCLUSIVE: Buhari sets up committee to review probe report on Magu here.

Magu, former EFCC chairman, was indicted for fraud by the Salami panel

EXCLUSIVE: Magu abandoned N118bn fraud cases, failed to remit N48bn loot, says Salami panel. Read here.
EXCLUSIVE: Salami panel asks Buhari to fire, prosecute Magu for corruption. Read here.
EXCLUSIVE: Magu set to retire as hopes of promotion to AIG fade. Read here.
EXCLUSIVE: Magu suppressed cases against Amosun, Kwankwaso, says Salami Panel. Read here.
EXCLUSIVE: Buhari ordered DSS to investigate Magu since 2018. Read here.
EXCLUSIVE: Magu killed high-profile cases while chasing after ‘Yahoo boys’, says Salami panel. Read here.
EXCLUSIVE: PSC defies ‘damning’ Salami Panel report, considers Magu for promotion. Read here.
EXCLUSIVE: Cases compromised by EFCC under Magu worth N333bn, $2bn, says Salami panel, Read here.
EXCLUSIVE: Buhari sets up committee to review probe report on Magu. Read here.

ABACHA LOOT 

An infographic showing returned Abacha loot

In 2017, there was public outrage over a questionable payment by Abubakar Malami, Nigeria’s former attorney-general, to some lawyers as reported by TheCable. As part of its civic responsibility to the masses, TheCable began to dig into intrigues, theatrics and trajectories of the much-awaited repatriation of $321 million stolen by the dictator.

The Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation filed a freedom of information (FoI) request to seek details of the repatriation process. The foundation sued Malami for non-compliance, petitioned the Swiss government, and published a series of exclusive stories until the house of representatives demanded a probe of the dubious payments.

Read the exclusive stories HERE,  HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE AND HERE.

THE WHISTLEBLOWERS’ PLIGHT

In 2016, the federal government launched a whistleblowing policy, domiciled in the federal ministry of finance, to tackle corruption. The policy seeks to compensate whistleblowers for exposing corruption.

Notably, in 2017, the policy brought in some influx of cash after the EFCC said it discovered $43 million, £27,000 and N23 million stashed away at a flat in Ikoyi after a tip-off from a whistleblower.

However, the number of willing whistleblowers is said to be on the decline.

INSIDE STORY: Death threats, job losses — Nigerian whistleblowers risking everything for public interest examines how the fight against corruption has put the lives of whistleblowers at risk and why a policy meant to encourage and protect them is failing in Nigeria’s long-drawn-out war against graft.

RICH IN CRUDE OIL, POOR IN BASIC AMENITIES

When the federal government announced the discovery of a commercial quantity of crude in border towns in Gombe and Bauchi state and ex-President Muhammadu Buhari flagged off the first oil exploration in the region in 2023, TheCable set out to document life as it were for the people of the Kolamani region who had been ushered into the limelight by the discovery.

The road leading to Kolmani oil field

TheCable met poor access roads, a strong military presence which prevented access to the communities, and an uncommissioned hospital donated by the NNPC while pregnant women and sick children underwent a torturous 25km journey to Pindiga to access healthcare.

THE LAGOS WATER CRISIS

Lagos, Nigeria’s centre of excellence is surrounded by water, yet is grappling with providing millions of its residents with steady, potable water. In THE THIRSTY CITY I and II, TheCable highlights the water woes faced by Lekki residents despite a N12.29bn allocation. Lagos residents could not access water from government pipelines.

UNEARTHING THE ROT AT A FEDERAL GOVERNMENT COLLEGE

’21st-century classroom’ at FGGC Langtang

With N5,000, or even less, one of the security guards employed to protect students at the Federal Government Girls College (FGGC), Langtang, Plateau state, pimped the girls to strangers — a misdeed that he said was common practice.

The investigation exposed the rot in the once-prestigious Unity School, where students use water from an untreated well, sleep on broken beds, study in hostile classrooms — and live practically unprotected from predators.

THECABLE BROKE THE STORY ON AMBODE

Tinubu appointed him permanent secretary, ministry of finance. He later became Lagos governor.

In the build-up to the 2015 general election, there was worry and speculation about the man who would succeed Babatunde Fashola as the governor of Lagos.

TheCable reported correctly that Akinwunmi Ambode and Yemi Osinbajo would fill the positions in The man who would be the next Lagos governor months before other news media did — demonstrating the depth of our sources and network.

DEALING WITH FISTULA

“My name is Mariam Mani and I have been leaking urine for 34 years”

TheCable takes a shift from the problems and typical circumstances that define the lives of women battling fistula to tell their heroic efforts in bouncing back after being divorced and abandoned due to their health challenges.

UNCOVERING CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA’S MOST-PATRONISED MARRIAGE REGISTRY

While the federal government reduced the fees for registering marriages in Nigeria, corrupt officials of marriage registries continued to extort prospective couples by charging above the official rate — diverting millions of naira into their personal bank accounts, and shortchanging the federal government. This investigation exposed the corrupt practices and loopholes through which a system frustrates its online registration portal and forces citizens to pay mandatory bribes.

The story led to the sack of the official indicted in the story, and the management of the registry was forced to revert to its online portal.

FACT-CHECKING ELECTORAL MISINFORMATION

One of the misleading images circulated during the 2023 general elections

The 2023 election was riddled with false claims targeted at swaying voters and altering reality as Nigerians went to the polls on election days. TheCable thoroughly fact-checked these claims to put the facts straight.

THE SUNRISE POWER/MAMBILLA SAGA

In a series of exclusives, TheCable had unveiled the drama grounding Nigeria’s biggest plant, conceived in 1982. TheCable captured the legal disputes, administrative lapses, the role of a former minister of power and that of Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited (SPTCL), a local content partner.

You can read the series HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

#ENDSARS: JUSTICE FOR WIDOW

On October 12, 2020, Ikechukwu Iloamuzor, a 55-year-old driver, was killed by a stray bullet during the #EndSARS protest in Surulere area of Lagos state.

The widow who fought for justice

TheCable followed up with the story of how the widow defied all odds to fight for justice and got a N10 million compensation.

EXPOSING CORRUPTION AT NIMC

The story highlighted how some Nigerians were extorted by officials of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) during national identity number (NIN) enrolment.

The story prompted the agency to set up systems to check for corruption and extortion during the exercise.

LEFT AT THE MERCY OF QUACKS

The two-part story uncovered how hospitals in Akwa-Ibom trained and employed unqualified nurses under the guise of auxiliary nursing programmes, in the process, endangering patients receiving care at their facilities and extorting the students. The story unearthed the exploitation of the quacks, some of whom are teenagers.

AN ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTIGATION THAT MADE IMPACT

The undercover investigation exposed how Chinese miners endangered residents of the federal capital territory (FCT), contaminating their only source of water.

EXTORTION IN LAGOS JUDICIARY

The court, they say, is a beacon of justice, but the officials in Lagos courts do not align with the age-long dogma. This investigative report exposed the shady practices perpetrated by judicial officials who extort applicants and demand unofficial fees before issuing documents and certified true copy (CTC) of court rulings.

Reacting to the report, the Lagos judiciary vowed to probe and take disciplinary action against court officials found guilty of extorting residents.

OGONI IN AGONY

Oil spills in Nigeria date back to the 1970s, and according to the federal government, there were about 7,000 oil spills between 1970 and 2000. Since the turn of the new millennium, there have been incidents of spills recorded every year, up until 2014. The spills were said to have ruined the livelihood of 69,000 residents, whose environment remains contaminated.

Ogoni residents battling with the consequences of incessant oil spills

Despite the official launch of the Ogoni oil cleanup exercise, residents waited for respite, but none came.

CONFLICT IN PANDEMIC

The two-part story details the age-long crisis in southern Kaduna that has claimed hundreds of lives. As the world grappled with COVID-19, bloody violence raged through southern Kaduna — displacing, disabling and devastating women and children.

Southern Kaduna children, women devastated by killings

Beyond the impact that these stories had, they also garnered some national and international awards. You can find them here.