A look at Sahara Reporters – “Africa’s WikiLeaks” – by the Daily Beast in an article last week explained the site’s origins and the threatened existence of its founder Omoyele Sowore:
Its scoops shielded by US libel laws, the site is a phenomenon in Nigeria, a nation that is blessed by huge oil reserves – it is the fifth-largest foreign supplier of oil to the US – and also cursed by the outrageous corruption that petrodollars have created.
The scoops have brought threats against Sowore, who is often publicly denounced by political leaders back in Nigeria as a scandal-mongering criminal. Sowore says he assumes his life is in danger if he travels openly in his homeland anytime soon, a view shared by Western diplomats in Nigeria.