Ousman Kagbo, editor-in-chief of Business Digest, an independent Banjul-based newspaper was on October 3, 2008 quizzed by the notoriously feared National Intelligence Agency (NIA) for allegedly receiving “strange” telephone calls from persons that the authorities claim are threats to the security of the Gambia.

Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) sources reported that for about an hour at the NIA headquarters, the editor was asked to give reasons for his numerous international calls, especially from two Senegalese, who the NIA claim were on their monitoring list.

However, the editor has denied knowledge of the two men.

Kagbo, a Sierra Leonean national, was not charged with any offence and was allowed to go home after his written statement was taken.

The sources said observers believe that this move by the NIA was to intimidate and instill fear in the journalist as part of a grand design to undermine media freedom in the Gambia.

Media Foundation for West Africa