Philip Obaji Jr. is one of the foremost journalist reporting for international audiences on massacres, rape, torture and other abuses at the hands of Russian paramilitaries in Central and West Africa. Obaji, who is the winner of the 2025 ICFJ Knight International Journalism Award, delivered the following remarks on Nov. 13 at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC, at the ICFJ Awards Dinner 2025.

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests and fellow storytellers – thank you for this incredible honor. I’m deeply humbled to stand here tonight, accepting this journalism award, surrounded by people who believe in the power of truth.

First, let me thank the award committee for recognizing my work. It’s not every day you get a pat on the back for dodging bullets and bureaucracy to tell stories that matter. I also want to thank my family, my editors and the sources who risk everything to share their truths with me. Without you, I’d probably be writing about celebrity gossip instead of human rights.

My work in the Central African Republic has been some of the most challenging of my career. For the past seven years, I have been documenting the human rights abuses committed by Russian paramilitaries. These mercenaries have left a trail of massacres, rape and torture across West and Central Africa, exploiting vulnerable communities for diamonds, gold and power. I’ve spoken to survivors – women and girls who’ve endured unimaginable horrors, families who’ve lost everything to violence driven by greed. Their courage keeps me going, even when the danger feels overwhelming.

In June 2023, I was privileged to be awarded a Jim Hoge Fellowship through ICFJ. In December of that year, I was interviewing miners and displaced people when four soldiers from the Central African Armed Forces, acting on orders from Russian paramilitaries, showed up with Kalashnikovs and very bad attitudes. They arrested me, confiscated my phone and camera. I was detained, beaten and tortured – all for trying to amplify the voices of ordinary people caught in conflict. 

Now, these soldiers thought they could silence me, but they underestimated my stubbornness. After they let me go, I limped across the border to Cameroon, bought new equipment and went right back to finish the story. Why? Because the people I write about – the survivors of massacres, the women who refuse to be broken – deserve to have their stories heard. 

Now, this award isn’t just for me – it’s for every journalist who risks every life to shine a light in dark places, for the three Russian journalists killed in the Central African Republic in 2018. Their deaths inspired me to investigate the Wagner Group in the first place. It’s for the local reporters in Africa who work without fanfare, often without protection, to hold the powerful accountable. And it’s for the communities who trust us with their stories, even when it puts them in danger.

I’ll end with a promise: I won’t stop telling these stories, no matter how many soldiers or paramilitaries try to stand in my way. 

Thank you again for this honor. Let’s keep fighting for truth, justice and maybe a little laughter along the way. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to celebrate with a drink – and maybe check under my chair for soldiers first.