An Abuja High Court sitting in Maitama has detained six judiciary Correspondents for over two hours for covering proceedings without the consent of the court.
Justice Chizoba Orji, who ordered the detensions, said journalists must get express permission from the court before coverage.
She instructed her police orderly to seize a phone belonging to one Ms Wumi Obabori of the Africa Independent Television (AIT), and directed that all the pictures and videos she took be deleted.
Subsequently, Justice Orji sent other Reporters out of the courtroom, including representatives of the Sun Newspapers, Vanguard Newspaper, Raypower Fm, Leadership, as well as a veteran journalist, Charles Ozoemena.
Immediately afterwards, the judge stood down a matter and retired to her chambers to prepare a ruling, as the reporter from AIT attempted to record a video for her story.
The Registrar of the court insisted that journalists had no right to cover the court, despite the reporter’s explanation that journalists could take visuals and pictures once the court was not in session.
Apparently unconvinced by the stance of the reporter, The registrar immediately summoned a police officer, one Gusar Dauda, attached to the judge, to arrest the reporter.
Mr Dauda, who claimed that he had the authority of the judge, swiftly locked the main gate to the courtroom, pulled his gun and ordered all the journalists to surrender their phones.
After a scuffle that lasted over one hour, Justice Orji re-entered the courtroom and summoned the AIT reporter to step forward.
In solidarity, other journalists in the courtroom stood up and took turns to identify themselves.
The judge, thereafter, ordered her orderly to delete all the pictures and videos on the phone, after which she ordered the court official to unlock the gate and walk all the journalists out of the courtroom.
All efforts by Radio Nigeria to reach out to the judge through the court registrar proved abortive.
RN