…Order police orderly to delete their pictures
In what can be described as high handedness, abuse and brute display of power, a Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting in Maitama, Justice Chizoba Orji on Tuesday ordered the detention of six accredited Judiciary Journalists for taking pictures in an open court.
Justice Chizoba Orji insisted that journalists must get permission before they could cover her court and therefore ordered her police orderly to confiscate a phone belonging to Ms. Wumi Obabori, a reporter with the Africa Independent Television (AIT), and delete all the pictures and videos in it.
Other journalists Justice Orji also walked out of the courtroom include Mr. Godwin Tsa of the Sun Newspaper, Ikechukwu Nnochiri of Vanguard Newspaper, Austin Okezie of Raypower Fm and Charles Ozoemena.
The incident started when Justice Orji stood down a matter and entered her chambers to prepare a ruling, following which the AIT reporter attempted to record videos for her story, when a female Registrar of the court accosted her, insisting that no journalists has the right to cover the court.
Attempt to explain to the Court Registrar that it was a normal practice for journalists covering courts to take pictures and or videos in an open court while the judge is not seated or when the Court is not in session, fell on deaf ears.
The Registrar accordingly summoned the police officer attached to the judge and asked him to arrest the reporter.
The policeman, Mr Gusar 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.
Spirited intervention by lawyers and litigants to wade into the matter by explaining to the Registrar and the policeman that the practice the world over remains that Journalists can take pictures in an open court while not in session were rebuffed by the police officer and court officials who insisted no journalist would leave the courtroom without complying with their order.
After an altercation that lasted over one hour, Justice Orji re-entered the courtroom and summoned the AIT reporter to step forward and the following ensued;
Justice Orji: “Why were you taking pictures and videos in my court? Who gave you the permission to do that?”, she fumed.
Reporter Wumi: “My lord, I am an accredited judiciary reporter. It is a normal practice for us to take pictures and videos when the court is not sitting, even up to the Supreme Court”, Wumi of AIT responded.
Justice Orji: “You don’t have such right! If there is such permission, it must be in writing. Who gave you the permission? Show me the authorization?”
At that juncture, other journalists in the courtroom stood up and took turns to identify themselves.
Justice Orji: “I don’t want to hear from any of you. Now, where is the device you used to take the pictures and videos?
Justice Orji thereafter ordered her police orderly to delete all the pictures and videos in the phone, after which she told the court official to unlock the gate and directed all the journalists out of her courtroom.
