A court in Nigeria has denied bail to an American aid worker and a Nigerian man, who were arrested last week for breaching the official secrets act.
Judith Burdin Asuni and her colleague, Danjuma Saidu, are accused of assisting two German journalists take photographs of oil facilities in the Niger Delta.
A state prosecutor said bail had been opposed because of new information.
Mrs Asuni said she was being prosecuted because of her friendship with the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo.
The Niger Delta has been a sore subject for Nigerian authorities, particularly with the recent international attention given to militant groups campaigning for a greater share of the region’s oil wealth.
The delta is home to all of Nigeria’s oil and responsible for 95% of hard currency earnings. However, most of its inhabitants live in abject poverty.
Diplomatic ripples
A 60-year-old US-born aid worker, Mrs Asuni has lived in the Niger Delta for decades and runs a non-governmental organisation called Academic Associates Peace Work, which promotes peace and reconciliation in the troubled oil region.
For years she was close to Mr Obasanjo, who stepped down in May. It is that friendship which she says lies behind her prosecution now.
Speaking to journalists in court, she said in the past she had stepped on the toes of certain politicians and security officials in the delta, who were unhappy that she would bypass them and go straight to the president with information.
Now with him gone, she says they want to bring her down.
Mrs Asuni and Mr Saidu were arrested in September and accused of providing assistance to two German documentary film makers who were detained for allegedly taking pictures of oil facilities.
All four have been charged with breaching the official secrets act, but while the Germans, Florian Alexander Opitz and Andy Lehmann, have been released on bail, Mrs Asuni and Mr Saidu have been remanded in custody.
The case has caused some diplomatic ripples here.
In a recent statement, the US government said it was disturbed by Mrs Asuni’s detention and deeply concerned that she had not been granted bail.