Chiemelie Ezeobi is the Group Features Editor for THISDAY NEWSPAPERS, one of the major daily newspapers in Nigeria with a national spread. As Group Features Editor at THISDAY NEWSPAPER, she oversees the Defence, Crime and Health Sub desks in addition to the Weekly Pull-out Magazine, ‘This Weekend’. Ezeobi is widely travelled and her experience on the job extends to all the aforementioned beats, garnering her awards both internationally and locally including a scholarship to the widely-acclaimed US sponsored International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) on Countering Insurgency: Media Messaging and Strategies.

Ezeeobi’s work in THISDAY first as the Crime reporter entails investigating crime stories and reporting it. It also entails covering the police, the secret service, the anti- graft agencies and other paramilitary bodies. Given her knack for ferreting out the truth, Ezeobi’s sojourn into the crime field has seen investigative reports ranging from corruption amongst police officers, the intricacies of pipeline vandalism and militancy being published.

 Also, on the Defence beat, Ezeobi’s work stretches to the Armed Forces (the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force). Having covered the defence beat for years, Ezeobi has had the opportunity of sailing with the Navy across the coast and Gulf of Guinea, flying with the Air Force and of course, going with the Army to some covert operations. As a well-traveled journalist, Chiemelie Ezeobi was in Senegal in 2010 with the Nigeria Navy to receive the newly purchased Nigerian Navy Ship Thunder on arrival from USA. She was also in Benin Republic with the Nigerian and Benin Republic Navy on joint naval operations tagged ‘Operation Prosperity’. She was also at the Gulf of Guinea waters for eight days with the Nigerian Navy on Military operations tagged ‘Exercise Farauta’, 2012. In 2014, she participated in Operation Obangame, an international maritime interdiction with 21 participating countries from Africa, United States and Europe.

Also in 2014, she was embedded at the launch of Operation AWATSE (an Hausa word for scatter), a joint task force comprising the Armed Forces and elements of the paramilitary in tackling the pipelines from Lagos to Mosimi corridor.

In 2015, She participated in Exercise Treasure Guard, a show of force by the Nigerian Navy at the Bight of Benin. In 2016, she took part in Operation Opia Toha, 'togetherness at sea', which was designed to forge a regional united front between the Nigerian Navy and the navies of other West African countries in a bid to dominantly secure the maritime domain from illegalities like piracy, crude oil theft and militancy NN. She was in Douala, Cameroun for coverage of a multi-national Sea exercise tagged ‘Exercise Obangame Express’ involving 16 Countries of the world, 2012 to 2016. She also covered the 2017 Exercise Obangame Express’ involving 27 countries under the United States funded African Partnership Station. In December of 2017, she sailed with the navy for five days for  Exercise Eagle Eye 11 at the Bonny and Brass waters, which afforded the Nigerian Navy the opportunity to assess it's operational readiness in conducting maritime policing against piracy and other illegalities. In January 2018, she participated in Exercise River Sweep 11, a three- day sea exercise carried out by the Western Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy.

In April 2019, she participated in the seventh Operation Obangame  Express held in the Gulf of Guinea waters. In November 2019, she was part of Exercise Grand African NEMO with the Nigerian Navy to counter piracy, crude oil theft and other maritime crimes in the Gulf of Guinea in partnership with the French Navy, as well as other international and regional navies.

In January 2020, she was embedded among troops of Operation KURONBE at Atlas Cove, an offshoot of Operation AWATSE, a joint operation targeted at curbing the menace of pipeline vandalism in the South-west region of Nigeria.

In March 2020, she covered Exercise Treasure Guard 11 held by the Nigerian Navy, which was targeted at among other things, reinforcing  zero tolerance for maritime illegalities in the country’s territorial domain and the Gulf of Guinea waters. In August 2020, Ezeobi participated in Exercise Calm Waters 11, to tackle the resurgence of militants and sea robbers off Nigerian waters, up to the Exclusive Economic Zone. In November 2023, she was embedded in  Exercise EJA Express to tackle the menace of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

In November 2023, she was part of Operation SECURED Line, a maritime offshoot aimed at curbing pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft. In March 2024, Ezeobi was part of Western Naval Command recently Exercise SWIFT RESPONSE with its deployment of six capital ships and two helicopters alongside the Maritime Domain Awareness facilities. During the course of duty, Ezeobi has been trained in weapon handling and marksmanship by the three arms of the Armed Forces having shot the AK47, FN rifle, the Beretta pistol, M16, 50MM calibre, GPMG and AK54.

Her experience in reporting the defence beat has been both exhilarating and terrifying. On several occasions, Ezeobi has had cause to join the military on covert operations in the creeks, enclaves and mangroves in search of militants and pipeline vandals. Other operations include venturing into the sleeper cells of dislodged Boko Haram terrorists, who had fled to Lagos from the North. In 2018, Ezeobi was held hostage alongside other reporters at gunpoint for over an hour by pipeline vandals at Atlas Cove when she joined the Nigerian Navy Ship Beecroft Commander and its personnel to cover the massive pipeline vandalism going on at the island. It took aerial reinforcement from the navy and providence to escape alive.

Also in covering the police and reporting on cases of human rights abuses, Ezeobi has faced repeated death threats, narrowly escaped sexual abuse and even have on more than one occasion been banned from reporting the security beat due to her fearless quest for the truth. In covering conflicts and the activities of the Armed Forces, she has helped to change the narrative by her reports in the sense that she draws  attention to the efforts of the military personnel. In the past, Nigerians often dismiss the military as idle forces but with her reports particularly the on-the-spot assessments, which often culminates into features stories with several pictures to back it up, the narrative has reasonably changed. With a Bachelor of Science and Master’s Degree in Mass Communication, Ezeobi, who is a Fellow, Peace and Security Studies, is passionate about creating change and influencing policies through her reportage on Health, Security, SDGs, Climate Change, and issues surrounding Women and Children. In covering climate-related stories, she was at the 2021 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland.

In 2016, she was part of the signing of  Memorandum of Understanding between the Faculty of Military Science of Stellenbosch University, South Africa and  Security Watch Africa,(SWA) a prominent security NGO in West Africa. In 2020, she also witnessed the Memorandum of Understanding between Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa, geared towards localising security in the continent. Chiemelie Ezeobi got an honourary mention in the 20 Most Powerful Women in Journalism in 2021 and in 2023, she was named the Women in Journalism Africa (WIJAFRICA) 10th out of 20 Most Powerful Woman in Journalism. In 2022, she was a Bill and Melinda Gates’ Foundation Goalkeeper and attended the event in New York where the target was to buttress the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDG) to achieve a better world by 2030. She was opportune to repeat same experience in 2023 where she had the golden opportunity to have an exclusive interview with Co-founder Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates. In September 2023, she was nominated by Government of Denmark to Koffi Annan PeaceKeeping International Centre in Ghana, for a training on Maritime Security. In October 2023, she was invited to Dakar, Senegal for the Grand Challenges 2023 as part of the select group of

media, innovators, scientists, researchers and world leaders from 120 nations to crowdsource solutions that can spark innovation and accelerate global progress. She has also acted as a temporary stringer for Times Magazine South Africa and BBC Nigeria and in 2018, she was awarded the Chevron scholarship to study at Pan Atlantic University for the Advanced Writing Skills Awareness course. Ezeobi has won both local and international awards including being a Finalist, Future Awards Project 2012 for Excellence in Journalism and First Runner Up Investigative Reporter of the Year Dame Awards 2016. She went on to win Best Investigative Crime Reporter in Nigeria by Security Watch Africa 2013 in South Africa; Best Investigative Crime Reporter in Nigeria by Security Watch Africa 2015, Houston Texas, United States. She also bagged Most Investigative Crime Reporter by City Pride Achievers Award 2017; Most Innovative Crime Reporter 2017 by Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria; and 2017 Security Watch Africa Golden Star Award for Investigative Journalism in West Africa, Ghana. She is a 2020 Silent Hero in Developmental Journalism; an Outstanding Journalist for the 2022 National Media Community Awards, and in 2021, she bagged the Defence Headquarters award for Outstanding Performance in the Indepth Coverage of Conflict/Insurgency in Nigeria.

Also in 2022, she was first runner up in the GYB Annual Award for Crime and Political Editors and received N1.25million as prize money. In June 2023, she was named The Peak Performing Woman of the Year for Exemplary Leadership (Media) by the Peak Performer. Still in June 2023, Ezeobi was nominated as a Young Innovator to attend the biggest gathering of science and innovation champions in Africa with Bill Gates by the Pan African Youth Innovation Forum. Ezeobi has been on Security Watch Africa International Initiative Board of Jury since 2019 and in 2022, she was appointed to the National Working Committee of the Centre for Black African Arts and Culture (CBAAC) Re- enactment of FESTAC’77 and was once Head, Media of Slum to School (S2S) Advocacy Group in 2012. On August 2023, Ezeobi was opportune to be one of the 7 select journalists picked to exclusively interview the UK Foreign Secretary, The Rt. Hon James Cleverly MP, who was just recently promoted to Secretary of State. Also, in 2024, she was among the five journalists picked to exclusively interview UK Minister for Business and Trade, Kemi Badenoch, on her maiden visit to Nigeria since assumption of office in the UK parliament.

 On November 2023, Ezeobi was invited by the United Kingdom Government to the UK, as one of the global journalists representing Nigeria, to see recruits from the Armed Forces of Ukraine being trained by the UK Armed Forces in South England. In May 2024, Ezeobi was awarded a scholarship to Nigeria’s foremost Pan Atlantic University (PAU) to study Media Innovation and Technology Programme. Beyond Her capacity as Group Features Editor for THISDAY NEWSPAPER, she is not just passionate about editing stories of reporters, but also charting her own career path in learning and gaining knowledge as well writing her own stories be it features, human interest,climate change, women and women, the SDGs,governance, health, security and even technology. In her 14 years as a media practitioner, she has shown strength of character, efficiency and commitment to duty,reason for her quadruple promotion from a reporter to an editor in 2018. As a Fellow, Centre for Peace and Security Studies, who is also a Countering Violent Extremism: Media Messaging and Strategies Fellow, she is passionate about creating change ; influencing policies through her reportage in all the aforementioned interests.