17th September, 2015
Abiodun Onafuye/Abeokuta
The Ogun state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, has condemned the detention of seven of its members by a Judge, N.I. Agbelu of the Ota High Court.
The union expressed displeasure over the matter, stressing that it was impunity of the highest order and described it as unwarranted,the detention of the journalists, who were in the court simply to carry out their constitutional duties to the society.
In a statement issued on Wednesday and jointly signed by the State Chairman of the Council, Comrade Wole Sokunbi and the Secretary, Comrade Soji Amosu, the union called on the Nigeria Judicial Commission and other relevant authorities to address the tyranny and arbitrariness which are gradually creeping into the judicial system to forestall a situation where the highly revered institution would become an object of ridicule in the eyes of the public.
The judge, Agbelu had ordered that seven journalists, who are members of the Correspondents’ Chapel, Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Ogun State Council be detained in the court wing during proceedings.
The journalists were detained for three hours but got a reprieve after a snake crept in and bit one of the court officials, which caused pandemonium that made the judge to release them.
The seven detained journalists are Daud Olatunji (Vanguard), Samuel Awoyinfa (Punch), Ernest Nwokolo (The Nation), Abiodun Taiwo (Daily Times) , Sulaiman Fasasi (Nigeria Pilot) , Wale Adelaja (TVC) and Johnson Akinpelu (Alaroye).
According to the NUJ statement, “they were at the court for a follow up on a murder case involving a suspected land speculator, Alhaji Mutairu Owoeye, only to be ordered arrested by the presiding judge for what he described as invasion of his court by the journalists.
“Owoeye was arraigned over the death of a 19-year-old school leaver, Bidemi Akinde, who was killed during a land tussle at Oke-Ore village in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of the state.
“The journalists are not criminals, they had only gone to perform their assigned roles to the society; what then could have been responsible for such ill-treatment of its members?
“The act could raise suspicion about the court proceedings. Court is a public place where journalists could go to source for news without any restriction.
“When did tyranny and arbitrariness become the order of the day in the court which is not only supposed to be the hope of the common man, but also the frontier in championing fundamental human rights?
“With the arrest and the detention, the judge has not only trampled on the rights of the journalists to perform their duties to the society but also on the people’s right to know.”