Mansir Muhammed, HumAngle’s senior GIS/OSINT specialist, has won the 2024 Sigma awards for his investigative report titled “Finding Nigeria’s Forgotten Mass Graves Through Satellite Data.” 

Published on Sep. 18, 2023, it was accompanied by an investigation conducted by HumAngle’s Investigations  Editor, ‘Kunle Adebajo, which sheds light on victims of extrajudicial killings and covert mass burials by the army.

Shortlisted on Feb. 22 alongside 52 projects from 22 countries, Muhammed’s report was among the ten outstanding projects announced to have won the award yesterday.

The investigation was done and published in collaboration with New Lines Magazine.

The Sigma competition celebrates the best data journalism around the world and also empowers, elevates and enlightens the global community of data journalists.

Mansir and the other nine winners will share a cash prize of $5,000.

“This award is a clear reflection of the HumAngle team’s dedication and determination to embrace cutting-edge technology and innovative storytelling,” said HumAngle’s CEO, Ahmad Salkida, in reaction to the news. 

“We are excited about the opportunity to consistently showcase our expertise on the global stage and receive prestigious awards such as this,” he added. 

The prize committee said the report reflected the sophistication of open source technology.

“This story is an excellent example of the growing sophistication in using open source methods for investigative stories – something that has been done tradiitonally only by the heavyweights in large news organizations, but which has become a much more democratized capability.  The work demonstrates a methodology that other newsrooms could also use,” the committee said.