Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, on Monday, ordered that all journalists covering the case of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu be barred from using their phones and cameras.
The order came on the heels of Kanu’s appearance before the court on Monday for hearing. An operative of the Department of State Security (DSS), dressed in plain clothes, stood on the entrance of the courtroom alongside three heavily armed prisons officials.
The operative said the judge gave a fresh order that no journalist should be allowed into the court room with their phones.
“Madam (the judge) gave the order; she said no journalists should be allowed inside with their phones their cameras,” the DSS operative said.
It was, however, not clear if the DSS official was acting on his own or on the orders of Justice Nyako.
At the last hearing on the matter, Nyako had accused the security operatives of making a mole hill out of Nnamdi Kanu’s matter.
The judge said the “overzealous operatives are making this matter special.”
“There is absolutely nothing special about Nnamdi Kanu, there is absolutely nothing special about this case,” Justice Nyako had said angrily.
Kanu and three others are facing charges for treasonable felony among others.
