A Magistrate Court 18, sitting in Abuja has sentenced a civil servant, Aminu Maru, to one year in prison for leaking sensitive government documents.
The court however, gave Mr. Maru the option of paying a fine of N100,000.
The conviction followed his guilty plea on Tuesday.
Mr. Maru was a staff of the office of Accountant General of the Federation but seconded to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
He was arraigned by the State Security Service for allegedly leaking official government documents to non-civil servants for a fee.
A source in the SSS informed Premium Times that the service is currently investigating a lot of civil servants over allegations of “selling” official government documents to people who use same to blackmail top government officials.
“We are investigating many persons and more will be taken to court soon. The measure is being taken because of the high rise in leakage of sensitive government secrets,” he said.
He said Mr. Maru is lucky because he “cooperated fully with investigators and promptly confessed to his crime.
“He also pleaded guilty and that is why you can see that the judge was lenient in her ruling,” he said.