Today the Wagner Group is known to many for the role it played in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But in 2018, when Nigerian journalist Philip Obaji Jr began to investigate their activities in Africa, the group was still largely unknown.

What Philip discovered was human rights atrocities on an unimaginable scale. In central and west Africa, the Wagner Group was exploiting the natural resources to fund Russia’s proxy wars, seizing gold mining sites and opening fire on the communities that lived nearby. 

One day in December 2023, Philip went on a high-risk reporting trip to the Central African Republic to visit a community of gold miners. But within an hour of arriving in a border village, he was captured, badly beaten and detained.

In this week's episode, Philip tells Nicola about the risks he took to expose the truth about Putin’s paramilitaries and their crimes in Africa. 

Presented by Nicola Kelly

Producer: Kevin Caners