Africa Eye

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.' BBC Africa’s Sharon Machira has been investigating.

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.

Prisoners on remand - or 'remandees' - in Zambia often face an uncertain future. William Kondowe has been waiting two years for his trial on charges of car theft and murder and, like many prisoners, he has struggled to maintain his links to life outside the prison walls. A radical new project, set up by Prison counsellor Hastings Siamoongwa, tries to help remandees like William

BBC Africa Eye goes undercover to expose an ineffective and corrupt pension system in Nigeria, which leaves some elderly people sick and penniless, yet grants some politicians outrageous retirement packages. Reporter Yemisi Adegoke travels to Cross River State to meet ‘Ghost Pensioners’ – elderly people whom the state declared dead and deprived of their pensions. Some of whom are forced to rely on financial support from their relatives and are subjected to dehumanising treatment from the state officials for petitioning for their pensions to be reinstated.

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.

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.

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. BBC Africa Eye brings you the story of some of those who risk it all.

Since January 2012, Mali has been facing a violent insurgency in the north of the country. But the soldiers on the front line have been growing bitter accusing their commanders of corruption by sending them to fight with little pay and insufficient equipment. Some are even thinking of changing sides. Their widows and families back home say they have been forgotten by the nation their men died for. #BBCAfricaEye investigates the cycle of death, violence and corruption, and asks: is there no end in sight?

A seven-strong group of homeless street dancers in Nairobi, who call themselves the Street Family Dance Crew are determined to overcome the desperate hardships of street life and make their names as celebrity dancers. Film-maker Nick Wambugu follows them for two years on their quest to find fame and fortune. Their journey is fraught with obstacles as they endure hunger and destitution, bust-ups with police, family troubles, and the crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a film about hope and ingenuity, resilience and courage, as the boys find ways to survive and keep dancing - hoping, against all the odds, that they will break through and hit the big time.

Abductions, beheadings, and the burning of homes have become the calling cards of a secretive and brutal group of insurgents in Cabo Delgado, Northern Mozambique.

Kidnappers have seized more than a thousand students and staff from schools in a series of raids across northern Nigeria. The wave of abductions has had devastating consequences for the country, which already has the highest number of children out of education anywhere in the world. Parents face extortionate demands in exchange for the freedom of their sons and daughters, and many families in Africa's most populous nation are now too afraid to send their children to class. Mayeni Jones travels across north western Nigeria to meet those affected and find out what's fuelling Nigeria's kidnap crisis.

Unlocking secrets from Africa's biggest banking data leak, BBC Africa Eye reveals how millions of dollars of public funds ended up in the private bank accounts of businesses based in Democratic Republic of Congo and owned by family and associates of former President Joseph Kabila. How much did the former President know? The investigation is part of Congo Hold-up, an international collaboration with access to evidence from BGFI Bank.

The Black Axe are one of the most feared and powerful organised crime groups in the world. Reporter Peter Macjob is on a journey to meet the Axemen face to face.