Philip I. Thomas

Philip I. Thomas (Comrade Phils) is a Nigerian journalist and activist best known for his social activism and campaign against police brutality in Nigeria.[1] His articles have appeared on Sahara Reporters, The Vanguard (Nigeria)[2] and Report Afrique International - where he serves as Executive Editor.[3]

Philip I. Thomas (Comrade Phils)

Activism

In January, 2020, Thomas called for justice over the death of Chima Ikwunado - [4] an auto mechanic who was tortured to death while in police custody- and also demanded for the release of the four (Ikoku 4) unjustly incarcerated others at the e-crack unit of the Mile One Police station in Diobu area of Port Harcourt, in Rivers state, Nigeria.[5] The story went viral after his post on Social Media and trended with #Justiceforchima on Twitter in Nigeria causing a media outrage and protests,[6] forcing the police authorities to investigate and prosecute [7][8] the offending officers. The notorious e-crack police unit was subsequently disbanded in February 2021.[9][10][11]</ref>[12]

Award Nomination

Thomas was nominated for the Media Award and Ibim Semenitari Prize for Journalism category alongside Kiki Mordi, a BBC Africa Eye reporter who won the award in the 2019 edition of the Media Awards held in Port Harcourt, Nigeria in November, 2019.[13][14]

References
  1. "Report Afrique Team". REPORT AFRIQUE International. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  2. "Yahya Jammeh, a better leader to his political allies than Goodluck Jonathan". Vanguard Newspaper. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  3. "My Experience Visiting Prominent Blogger, Kemi Olunloyo In Port Harcourt Maximum Security Prison". Sahara Reporters. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  4. "'EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: #JusticeForChima – Victim's Family, Client Narrate How Late Auto Mechanic Chima Ikwunado Was Tortured to Death By the Police In Rivers State". Report Afrique International. 20 January 2020. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  5. "'Claims of police torturing mechanic to death set Twitter on fire". The Punch Newspaper. 2020-01-17. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  6. "Chima Ikwunado: Rivers mechanics protest over colleague's death". The Sun Newspaper. 2020-01-20. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  7. "IKOKU 4: Four police officers remanded for murder, torture of suspects". Vanguard Nigeria. 2020-07-07. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  8. "'His killers must be brought to book'– outrage as police 'torture' mechanic to death". The Cable Newspaper. 2020-01-17. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  9. "Rivers CP Disband 'Notorious' Tactical Unit, Eagle Crack Squad". Channels TV. 2021-02-26. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  10. "'#JusticeForChima: Chima Ikwunado Another Victim Of Police Brutality". Plus TV Africa. 2020-01-17. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  11. "Chima Ikwunado: Four Ex-policemen accused for Chima Ikwunado murder don plead not guilty". BBC. 2020-08-13. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  12. "#JusticeForSleek : How Police Murdered 20 Year-Old Musician, Daniel "Sleek" Ikeaguchi, in Rivers State". REPORT AFRIQUE International. 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  13. "See Full Nomination List For The 2019 Media Awards (Press Release)". 5 November 2019. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  14. "Kiki Mordi, Mark Angel, Kofi Bartels, Sammy Wejinya, Matilda Lambert, Jane Gam Dede, Honey Ojukwu, Esther Nweje, Enoh Ogbevire, Others nominated for The Media Awards 2019". 4 November 2019. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.