Nigeria: Media Consultant Harassed

On 2 November 2006, the Nigerian government filed criminal charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja against Mr. Shehu Garba, a former president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and currently media consultant to that organization's vice president, Atiku Abubakar, accusing him of violating the Official Secrets Act. Garba is being charged with illegally obtaining, reproducing, and retaining documents relating to the death in a bomb blast in 1997 of Bagauda Kaltho, then Kaduna State correspondent for "The New"' magazine.