Judge detains seven journalists for entering court premises

A judge of the Ogun State High Court, Ota Division, Justice N.I. Agbelu,on Tuesday ordered the arrest and detention of seven journalists who planned to cover the trial of a murder suspect.
Agbelu said the court was not a public place where the journalists could ply their trade.
He said: ‎”I am a judge.
“I have an unlimited jurisdiction in the state.
“I can even say somebody should be arrested without question.”
The seven journalists were held hostage by policemen for over three hours based on the order of Agbelu.
They were arrested at Ota High Court 1, Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area.
The journalists were Daud Olatunji (Vanguard), Samuel Awoyinfa (The Punch), Ernest Nwokolo (The Nation), Abiodun Taiwo (Daily Times), Suleiman Fasasi (Nigerian Pilot), Wale Adelaja (TVC) and Johnson Akinpelu (Alaroye).
The journalists had arrived the court at about 11:44am to inquire about ‎cases involving victims of Pakoto demolition and murder in Oke-Ore community.
Trouble started immediately the newsmen arrived at the premises of the court as they were accosted by policemen who demanded their identification.
When they said they were journalists, the policemen returned to their duty post.
Shortly after, a female Assistant Court Registrar emerged to find out about the reporters’ mission and subsequently demanded for their letter of authority from the Chief Judge or a senior judicial officer permitting them to enter the court premises.
All the explanations by the journalists that they had only come to the court to carry out their constitutional responsibilities fell on deaf ears.
It was learnt that the assistant court registrar dashed to Agbelu and informed him about the presence of the newsmen.
She later emerged and claimed that the judge had ordered their arrest‎, following which the journalists were detained inside the administrative wing of the court from 11:45am to 2:44pm.
A poisonous snake, during the incarceration of the journalists, emerged from the nearby bush and bit a man in the court premises.
This caused pandemonium.
The ensuing confusion at the court forced Agbelu out of his office.
Efforts to kill the snake failed.
But after some time, Justice Agbelu invited the detained journalists to his office and took them through a long lecture of how a court premises would not qualify as a public place.
The judge said: “I put you under arrest.
“You are under arrest.
“You will discover that this compound is fenced round.
“Is that not so?
“It is not on the major road that you can just come in.
“If you are representing the public interest, you must know we have a head in this court.
“I am a judge.
“I have an unlimited jurisdiction in the state.
“I can even say somebody should be arrested without question.
“But in exercising my power, I have to inquire into many things.
“You cannot say because you are representing public interest, you can just burst into any compound or burst into my house.
“You have a right as a journalist, but where your own stops my own starts.
“And if I am the owner of a house, I have a right to my privacy, fundamental right to privacy.
“I want to educate you.
“If you want to infringe on my right, that is where your own right stops, which I am entitled to.
“What I am saying is that judiciary has its own right too.
“You are infringing on our own right too.
“You don’t know?
“A report came to me that some people invaded the court claiming that they are journalists filming the whole place.
“It is not a local market and is not an open market.
“You are approaching the court.
“If you are interested in a particular matter in a company, will you just burst into the company, saying you are journalists?
“That is what I am telling you.
“You don’t just go into a place and start filming and then say you are a journalist.
“If we said you are trespassing into our land, do you have any defence?
“Answer me now.
“I am telling you it is not a public place.
“I am telling you the court is not a public place.”