The international NGO Blueprint for Free Speech has announced the 2025 Whistleblowing Prize winners, recognising individuals from Africa, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific for exposing corruption and human rights violations, including Nigeria’s 26-year-old awardee Nnamdi Emeh, who remains in detention despite being granted bail. Emeh, honored for leaking allegations of police-linked extortion, killings, and organ harvesting, continues to face grave threats to his life while court orders for his release are reportedly blocked by authorities.
Judges Jane Corbin, James D. Catlin, and Dr. Suelette Dreyfus, who noted that “whistleblowers face extraordinary risks imprisonment, exile, even assassination for daring to speak truth to power” highlighted the role of whistleblowing in defending democracy and challenging impunity. Civil rights groups describe his case as a test of Nigeria’s commitment to justice and whistleblower protection, as family and advocates demand transparency, accountability, and his immediate release.