2018 has been a year of grief for many journalists and the news fraternity who faced attacks, imprisonment and murder for doing their work as journalists and media workers.
According to the annual report of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 53 journalists have been killed in 2018 and this number represents those killed with a confirmed motive. 23 others were killed due to an unconfirmed motive.
For Reporters Without Borders, at least 63 journalists were killed doing their jobs in 2018, a 15
The most intriguing murder in 2018 was the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He was killed in October inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, a year after he moved to the United States and began writing for The Washington Post.
His death further exposed the rot in the Saudi Kingdom he’s been writing about which the main suspect of his killing, Mohammed bin Salman, is accused of being the mastermind.
Meanwhile, other journalists in Africa were killed for the same reasons as Khashoggi – for doing their jobs and exposing the ills of their communities as well as those behind them.
As compiled by the CPJ, here are the two African journalists who were killed in 2018 for doing their job.